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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Motor Work and Formal Studies 



A Provisional Syllabus for the First Three 
Primary Grades 



BY 

CHARLES DAVIDSON, Ph.D. 

Professor of Education in the State University of Maine 

assisted by 

FRANK G. WADSWORTH 
^ 

WINTHROP H. STANLEY 

I 



Cambridge, Massachusetts 



v^ 






Copyright, 191 i, by 
Charles Davidson 



Motor Work and Formal Studies 



SAMUEL USHER 

176 TO 184 HIGH STREET 

BOSTON, MASS. 












©CLA293778 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface 5 

Chapter I. Introduction g 

Chapter II. Grade One I2 

Program for Grade I I2 

A Day's Teaching in the First Grade 14 

Syllabus for the First Grade 20 

English. Semester A 20 

English. Semester B 29 

Motor Work. Semester A 30 

Number Work. Semester A 35 

Motor Work. Semester B 36 

Number Work. Semester B 39 

Nature Study. Fall and Winter 40 

Nature Study. Spring 47 

Art Study. Semester A 48 

Art Study. Semester B 49 

Penmanship 49 

Music 50 

Physical Training 51 

Seat Work 52 

Chapter III. Grade Two 54 

Program for Grade II 54 

Comments on Program for Grade II 56 

Syllabus for Second Grade 59 

English 50. 

Motor Work 66 



CONTENTS— Continued 

Page 

Number Work 73 

Nature Study 75 

Art Study 85 

Penmanship 87 

Music 88 

Physical Training 9 1 

Chapter IV. Grade Three 94 

Program for Grade III 94 

Comments on Program for Grade III 96 

Syllabus for Grade III 98 

English 98 

Motor Work 105 

Mathematics 113 

Nature Study 115 

Art Study 120 

Geography 122 

Music 125 

Physical Exercise 127 



PREFACE 

Among the research problems that have been undertaken 
by the advanced students of the Department of Education, 
University of Maine, an investigation of the suitable 
content of instruction for the first three primary grades 
when motor activities are given precedence in the course, 
has proved very suggestive, and no apology seems neces- 
sary for giving it the wider circulation of print. Our 
studies in psychology clearly indicated that the young 
child develops through activity, particularly through motor 
activity, and that the facts of instruction aid in his 
development only so far as they suggest, or contribute, 
material for various ordered activities. The correlation 
of these activities with the instruction necessary in pri- 
mary grades presented so many problems that a careful 
analysis of the desired activities and of the subjects of formal 
instruction was undertaken. With this analysis as our 
guide, it seemed practicable so to combine the two that 
each should reinforce the other in the daily program of 
the school. The syllabus here offered is the product of our 
effort to secure such a combination that the motor work 
shall reveal to the child the significance of the facts learned, 
and the instruction shall unfold to him continuously the 
possible advances in his activities. 

At the beginning of the school year, 1908-9, Frank 
G. Wadsworth entered upon this research to which he de- 
voted study equivalent to a two-hours' course throughout 
the year. In this study it was necessary, first, to gain 



a clear comprehension of the principles of education as 
defined by Froebel and of his application of these in the 
kindergarten. The next task involved the survey and 
analysis of such material as various authors have gathered 
and systematized for the use of the teachers of motor work 
in the primary grades. Here, a difficulty arose, since the 
guides for motor work divide quite sharply into those 
in which all motor work is grouped around a thought unit 
with little regard for the difficulty of the tasks suggested, 
and those in which all exercises are closely graded for dif- 
ficulty of invention or execution. After much discussion 
and study, the conclusion was reached that the thought 
unit must be preserved to secure unity and interest, but that 
due regard must also be given to the difficulty of the tasks 
undertaken. This balance between opposing ideas seemed 
attainable if, in the general organization of the work in the 
first two grades, precedence was given to the thought unit, 
while an advancing emphasis was placed upon graded tasks 
as the pupil gained in skill and mental vision. It seemed 
desirable, also, that the teacher's demonstrations and formal 
guidance in class instruction should follow the steps of 
difficulty in execution, while the tasks undertaken by the 
motor groups should be those of their choice as influenced 
by a thought unit suggested by the teacher. With the 
acceptance of these principles, the grading of motor exer- 
cises in the syllabus became possible. 

The correlation of motor work and formal studies was 
now undertaken, but correlation involved selection, and 
the principles governing selection required definition. 
It was determined that, so far as was practicable, the 
content of the formal studies must contribute directly 
and immediately to the motor work, and that the applica- 
tion of knowledge gained from the formal studies should, 



in large measure, displace reviews and drill exercises. 
It was recognized, however, that these principles must be 
applied with discretion, that the educational values of 
each subject must have independent investigation; for 
example, it became evident that the exercises in paper 
work should supply most of the data for the study of 
number in the first two grades, and that drill exercises 
in number and in phonics were indispensable. With this 
analysis of each subject of study, the writing of the syllabus 
began, subject by subject, and grade by grade. Mr. Wads- 
worth brought to the drafting of this syllabus the experi- 
ence of a man acquainted with affairs and some knowl- 
edge of the peculiar characteristics of primary teaching 
in England. The following year Mr. W. H. Stanley under- 
took an independent investigation of the same problems. 
The conclusions which Mr. Stanley reached were compared 
with those set forth in Mr. Wadsworth's syllabus and 
revised wherever the positions presented in the earlier 
syllabus seemed the more tenable. Finally, the resulting 
syllabus was compared with that of the Horace Mann 
School, Teachers' College, New York, and a further revi- 
sion made. The independence exercised by Mr. Stanley 
in drafting the second syllabus was most commendable 
since one's judgment is easily influenced by earlier work. 
Mr. Stanley's experience as a teacher and his natural apti- 
tude for certain phases of the subject enabled him, in my 
opinion, to attain results no less valuable than those of 
Mr. Wadsworth who had done the pioneer work. 

In stated meetings, each week, each investigator discussed 
with the instructor every detail of his investigation; its 
availability, its relative importance, its position in a graded 
scheme, its correlation with other parts of the work, were 
all considered, but the final decision rested, in every instance, 



with the student. A final copy of each syllabus was filed 
with the instructor; these two syllabi I have now carefully 
revised and combined and this resulting syllabus has thus 
become a joint product, the parts of which it would be 
difficult to credit to any one author. 

There is no thought in the printing of this syllabus that 
it is the final word on any portion of the field traversed. 
It is a systematic syllabus, suggestive, in my opinion, but 
containing many items that should be tested repeatedly 
in the classroom before they are finally accepted. I be- 
lieve that it points in the right direction, and it is my hope 
that it will lead to intelligent experimentation. If teachers 
who make use of it will write me concerning the modifica- 
tions which seem to them desirable, future editions of the 
syllabus will doubtless be the better for their contributions. 

Charles Davidson. 

University of Maine. 



CHAPTER I — INTRODUCTION 

Certain principles drawn from the study of psychology 
have been rehearsed so frequently that they have become 
as worn as old adages, and few stop to question whether 
they have ever been put to the test. Among these, is the 
saying that the child learns by doing, often quoted by 
those who make the child's chief business that of learning 
facts outside the sphere of his present interest. Of late, 
the saying that the brain develops, for the most part, 
through orderly activities of the hand, has led some to ask 
why, then, should memoriter tasks and formal knowledge 
hold precedence in our elementary schools. This syllabus 
is a sincere but modest attempt to make orderly motor 
activities the core of the school course for the first three 
years of school life. 

In the attempt to center school work in motor activities, 
it soon became evident that the grade unit was too large 
and too inflexible for our purpose. In motor work, the unit 
must be so small that there can be direct cooperation 
in each task. With little children, such a unit cannot ex- 
ceed five or six in number. In such cooperation, there- 
fore, a child prompt in initiative should be recognized 
as leader, and the children themselves, working with this 
leader, should, when practicable, distribute among them- 
selves the different parts of the task. By this means, the 
give and take, the necessary tolerances of cooperative 
activity can be inculcated and the children trained for 
common action in community life. 

Class exercises in the formal studies must, however, 



be maintained, and explanatory lessons in motor work must 
be given to large groups, hence it is necessary to preserve 
the grade class, or large group, while subdividing it into 
the smaller motor units. For this reason, a grade class 
of 30 children was taken as the norm and divided into two 
groups, A and B, of 15 each, and each group was further 
divided into three motor units of five, consisting of four 
children and their leader. By this means, the small unit 
and the necessary flexibility for motor work were secured 
and yet class work remained undisturbed. 

The teaching of a class so organized seems, at first 
glance, a difficult task, but closer examination robs it 
of its terrors. Teachers retard the development of inde- 
pendence and initiative by too close supervision; this is 
markedly true in all motor work, in which the child, when 
once his task is clear to him, should be left to his own 
resources as much as possible. If, then, the preparatory 
and suggestive introduction to the task is well given to 
the class group, the motor units can proceed to accomplish 
their purpose with little or no suggestion or supervision. 
The teacher may now devote her energies to the instruction 
of her class group in formal knowledge, giving the facts 
which each child will henceforth use in his motor work 
and making clear the application of these facts to planned 
activities. In a school thus organized, there is no excuse 
for the teaching of anything which cannot be reviewed 
through application within the next forty-eight hours. 

Certain changes in the teacher's habit of mind may be 
necessary. She must be able to give her group crisp, 
clear instruction and yet be subconsciously aware of the 
situation with each motor unit as these small groups 
busily work in various parts of the room. This does not 
mean that she must act as a special Providence to remove 
difficulties for each unit, or swoop down as an avenging 



angel at each small mischance, injustice, or disorder; but 
she should know what is going on as surely as the old-time 
teacher was conversant with the mischief brewing in the 
back seat. Further, she must disabuse her mind of the idea 
that the slight noises of occupation or the eager consul- 
tations in whispers are disorder. The hum of industry 
has invaded her domain and the activities of real life have 
displaced the cloistral silences. She must learn to attend 
to her task with the same concentration with which the 
children are pursuing theirs. 

Finally, the schoolroom must become a workshop. 
Nature never intended that the child should sit quietly 
and in a prescribed position. Every muscle calls for ex- 
ercise, and Nature's protest is made 'evident through the 
restlessness of the child. He should be up and doing 
the greater part of the time. At least half the area of the 
schoolroom should be free from desks that the sandbox, 
the working-tables, may have their places. Ample spaces 
for movement should enable the children to pursue their 
various industries without crowding or disturbance; they 
should pass freely from desk to table, move about, or sit 
on the floor when this position is most convenient for the 
task. Every child should have his peg for an unfinished 
raffia basket, a drawer for his cardboard and weaving 
materials, and should keep everything in order. Indeed, 
the walls of the schoolroom should not confine him. The 
fields and forests, the school garden and the rivulet by 
the roadside, are parts of Nature's school for him, and much 
of his instruction should be given afield. From these ex- 
cursions he should bring back his treasures for the school 
museum, plants for observation, and insects that he may 
learn of their wonderful transformations. All things that 
aid in the development of the man or woman potential in 
every child are legitimate parts of his school discipline. 



CHAPTER II— GRADE ONE 



FORMAL STUDIES 
Forenoon 
Hours 



PROGRAM FOR GRADE I 

MOTOR SUBJECTS 



Groups 
A B 



10 

10 



15 



9.00- 9.10 Music (song), recitation in chorus, 10 
9.10-9.20 Demonstration (Paper Folding), 10 
9.20-9.35 Number, based on paper folding, 15 

Paper Folding, . . 
9«35 _ 9-5° Number, based on paper folding, . . 

Paper Folding, . . 
9-50- 9-5^ Gymnastics, out of doors, or in 
gymnasium, marching a part of 
exercise, 
9.58-10.06 Demonstration (Sand Work), 
10.06-10.21 Nature Study, 
Sand Box, 
10.21-10.36 Nature Study, 
Sand Box, 
10.36-10.48 Recess, Free Play, 
10.48-10.56 Luncheon, 
10.56-11.06 Phonic Drill, 
1 1. 06-1 1. 2 1 Rimes, later Reading, 
11.21-11.46 Games, including number games, 

marching, dramatization, etc., 25 25 
11.46 Dismissal. 



8 


8 


8 


8 


15 






15 


12 


12 


8 


8 


10 


10 


15 


15 



Groups 
A B 

3 4.5,6 



15 



15 



15 



FORMAL STUDIES 
Afternoon 
Hours 



MOTOR SUBJECTS 



Groups 
A B 



Groups 
A B 



1.30- 1.40 

140- 1.50 
1.50- 2.05 



2.05- 2.20 



2.20- 


2.30 


2.30- 


245 


2.45- 


3-03 


3-03- 


3.09 


3-09- 


3-14 


3.14- 


3.26 


3.26- 


3-51 


3-5i 





Roll checked, Individual Memory 

Selections, 
Music (new songs), 
First Term. 

Rimes and Reading, 
Sentence Making, 
Second Term. 

Cord Work demonstration, 
Cord Work, 
First Term. 

Rimes and Reading, 
Sentence Making, 
Second Term. 

Cord Work demonstration, 
Cord Work, 
Number, drill for facility, 
Story Telling by teacher, 
Recess, Free Play, 
Luncheon, 
Color Study, naming of spectral 

colors by color disks, water 

colors, 
Oral Composition, 
Games, marching, etc., 
Dismissal. 



1,2,3 4,5.6 



15 



15 



10 


10 


15 


15 


8 


8 


6 


6 


15 


15 


12 


12 


25 


25 



15 



15 



15 



15 



13 



A DAY'S TEACHING IN THE FIRST GRADE 

Many teachers fear the attempt to combine motor ac- 
tivities with formal studies because they think that confu- 
sion will be unavoidable. Fortunately, this danger seems 
less threatening to teachers of the first grade than to others, 
because the methods of the kindergarten have been more 
generally applied in first grade teaching than in the higher 
grades; still, a sketch of a day's work with this program 
may not prove uninteresting. 

And, first, we must consider the schoolroom. The desks 
should be so grouped that the corners of the room will 
be free for sand boxes ; a clear space should also be left in 
front that the pupils may be grouped around the teacher's 
box for demonstration work; along the side of the room or 
in a recessed portion which must, however, be fully under 
the teacher's eye, space should be provided for a work- 
shelf attached to the wall, and near the windows bird- 
cages, flower- pots, and insect boxes should be placed. 
The desks should not occupy over half of the floor area 
since a bookcase, museum shelves for collections, and 
a closet for the material used in class work must also 
find place, as part of the equipment of the room. 

The day's work begins, then, with a pleasant greeting 
by the teacher, and supervision of the removal and the 
orderly disposition of wraps, hats, and rubbers. The 
children then visit the plants and pets, pluck off a dead leaf 
here, or attend to other real or fancied wants, each for his 
own belongings. Now, the teacher signals for order and 
all are seated and in position. 

First, comes the morning song, something well-known; 
then the class joins in the Lord's Prayer or in some ethical 
selection. The teacher, now, hands to the pupils seated 



in the front row the sheets of paper for their aisles and 
seats herself at her table while the pupils place a sheet or 
two on the desk for each child. The demonstration lesson 
in paper-folding follows as given in the syllabus or in 
Worst's " Construction Work." The teacher states the 
object to be made and gives, step by step, the foldings 
required, omitting all arithmetical drill. The children 
repeat her movements as each direction is given. 

At the close of ten minutes, B group rises, passes to the 
paper rack and each pupil provides himself with the neces- 
sary sheets of paper, then all group themselves at the stand- 
ing shelf as motor groups 4, 5 and 6. The leader of each 
group consults with his group as to what they shall make, 
which will be either something made before, or a repetition 
of the morning's task. These leaders should be taught 
to ask each member of their groups quietly for his choice 
and to accept for the day the choice of the greater number. 
Meanwhile, the teacher repeats the construction work 
with Group A, stopping after each folding to give the ex- 
ercises in number that should be based upon it. At the 
close of the period, the groups change places that Group B 
may also have its lesson in number. 

For gymnastics, the class marches out singing a motion 
song. In the open air, or in the gymnasium when the weather 
does not permit exposure without wraps and hats, the class 
divides into the class groups or into motor groups as the 
teacher may think best for the exercise or game she has 
planned for the day. All is carefully planned, moves briskly, 
and, in eight minutes, the children are again in line to march, 
in step to their song, back to the classroom which has been 
thoroughly flushed with fresh air during their absence. 

Without going to their seats, the children pass to the 
front, surround the teacher's sand box, divide into motor 



groups and seat themselves on the floor in two rows in a 
semicircle with the group leaders within the circle. (Vacuum 
cleaning makes the use of the floor possible.) The teacher 
at the sand box does such drawing or cutting of solid forms 
as her plan for the day requires, then the leaders repeat 
her work or work at her direction. Group A now goes 
to the desks and Group B to the sand boxes, one of which 
is provided for each group in the corners of the room. 
Here Group B builds whatever each motor group chooses, 
or a group may pass at the teacher's suggestion to the 
large class sand box in front where the class is constructing 
a primitive village, and here build the hill or shape the 
rivulet which is to be its contribution to the common work. 
This class box unifies the work of the whole class in 
a cooperative task, which is made continuous through suc- 
cessive undertakings as the term advances. "The Story 
of Ab," or some elementary tale of primitive folk, will guide 
the teacher in her suggestions as to what may be done next. 
These movements by groups and motor groups should be- 
come so habitual that the children will carry them through 
with little direction; by such means, training in initiative 
and self-direction can be secured. 

To the members of Group A, the teacher now distributes 
the plants for the day's study; these were gathered the day 
before in a neighboring field during an excursion from 
10.06 to 10.50 with both class groups and have been 
cared for by the janitor, or they have been brought from 
the central depot for the entire school system in response 
to an order given the day before. The lesson is conducted 
as sketched in the syllabus and is repeated with Group B 
in the next period. 

At 10.36, the class marches out for recess, free play in 
a sanded yard or in the gymnasium. During the absence 

16 



of the pupils, the room is again flushed with fresh air, and 
the teacher is busy preparing for the luncheon. Twelve 
minutes later, the class forms and returns to the desks. 
A paper napkin is now given to each, and a mug of milk 
with a pilot or graham cracker is served for luncheon. 
Each lays his napkin with care for a table-cloth, and 
takes pride in eating without the scattering of crumbs; 
thus, elementary principles of table manners are taught. 

Eight minutes later, all has been removed and the class is 
ready for the drill in reading. During the first weeks 
of the term, the study of rimes introduced the phonic drill, 
but, later, a review of the work in phonics already learned 
precedes the sentence making for which words are found 
in the known rimes or are introduced as preparation for 
the reading lesson. After a little, a new rime is learned, 
or primers are distributed for the reading. The twenty- 
five minutes devoted to reading, the most important 
formal lesson of the day, do not make too long a period 
since they follow play and luncheon and the work is diver- 
sified at the teacher's choice through exercises in phonics, 
rime reading, sentence making, and sight reading with 
training in word recognition through the use of cards. 

At the close of the period, the teacher proposes a game, 
possibly the dramatization of a rime or of a story that has 
been read, and after twenty-five minutes of orderly and 
organized play, wraps and hats are brought and dismissal 
follows. 

The afternoon session begins at 1.30 with individual mem- 
ory selections while the attendance roll is checked, then 
two or three stanzas of a new selection are repeated several 
times. Music follows ; this is advance instruction in rhythms 
and a new song as sketched in the syllabus. Group A 
now continues the rime and phonic study of the forenoon, 

17 



the teacher giving special attention to individual difficul- 
ties in the production of sounds or in the mastery of the 
various elements involved in reading and talking. Mean- 
while, Group B has received from the leaders of the motor 
groups word blocks with which each motor group is busily 
engaged in making sentences. The groups exchange work 
at the close of the period. Since the most important 
task of the first half year is the mastery of the art of reading, 
the emphasis placed upon reading in this program seems 
justifiable. 

A class lesson follows, — in counting, in quick adding, 
where objects are shown with the question, How many? 
These lessons often take the form of games and sometimes 
these are competitive between groups. If the leaders of 
motor groups are proficient, the class may divide into these 
groups for guessing games where such objects as marbles, 
limited in number, are concealed, guessed, and then counted 
in the open hand. By this exercise, rapid and accurate 
calculation within the range of acquired knowledge is se- 
cured. The work is fast and exhausting, consequently 
it is continued for ten minutes only ; story telling or reading 
by the teacher follows to give a desirable change; this 
should be enlivened by running comments by the class 
in answer to questions. 

A recess for free play and the luncheon follow as in 
the forenoon. Fresh specimens of the flower studied 
in the morning, or of some other blossom if the colors 
were not sufficiently positive or differ too much from the 
spectral colors, are now distributed, with a lump of moist 
clay which each pupil fashions into a support for the stem. 
With color disks, worsted yarns, or colored papers, a quick 
drill is given in the recognition and naming of spectral 
colors, then each child strives, with water colors, colored 

18 



crayon, or charcoal, to reproduce the flower as he sees it. 
Later in the year, the children will attempt picture stories, 
inventing their own representations for some simple tale 
of successive incidents. 

When the period for color work has ended and the boxes 
have been wiped clean and the brushes shaken out to dry, 
the children sit in position while one after another tells 
in continuous narrative some familiar story or gives an 
account of the walk to school that morning. 

The day closes with the learning of a new game, or a 
favorite game is played, and dismissal comes at 3.51 that 
the little ones may be off the school grounds before the 
larger children appear. It will be noticed that the program 
provides for a longer day then is usual in primary grades. 
This lengthening of the school day is made possible without 
added fatigue by the frequent interchange of motor work, 
the variety of occupation, and the giving of food. If 
it were practicable to provide a rest period with food 
and sleep at the noon hour in place of the hurried visit 
home, the periods of outdoor activity might be still further 
lengthened without exhaustion and to the advantage of 
the pupil. Children might better pass their free time in 
healthful orderly activities under the oversight of their 
teachers than in the haphazard activities that too often 
occupy them out of school hours. Our school day for pri- 
mary grades has been made short because the occupations 
provided have not been in accord with nature's demands 
for the growing child; make them conform to natural 
needs, and the development of the child can be promoted 
best through an oversight of his activities comparable 
with that of intelligent maternal care. 



19 



SYLLABUS FOR THE FIRST GRADE 
English. — Grade One. — Semester A 

The problem of the successful teaching of the mother 
tongue in Grade One involves the selection of suitable 
material and the development of an effective method of 
procedure. In this syllabus a few carefully chosen nursery 
rimes introduce the study and form the core of instruction 
for the first sixteen weeks. As the child advances in the 
knowledge of these, the drill in phonics increases and sight 
reading is introduced. The advantages of an introduction 
to reading through nursery rimes have been well stated by 
an earnest advocate of this method, Miss Tufts, Super- 
visor of Primary Grades, Elmira, N. Y., in these words: 

1. Rimes deal with familiar things and connect the 
children with their play life in the home. 

2. Rimes appeal to the play element in children and the 
playing of them in school aids in strengthening the memory. 

3. The stock or type words used by the children in sub- 
sequent work are furnished by the rimes. 

4. Rimes are easy and interesting. 

5. The children use the rimes as a reference dictionary 
for their first reading and thus become independent and 
self-reliant from the first. 

6. From the beginning, the pupils work with words in 
relation to one another. 

7. The sequence of words in the sentence is an aid to the 
memory. 

The Rimes. — The nine rimes selected are, "Little 
Jack Horner "; " Jack and Jill"; " Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, 
Where have you been?"; "Old Mother Hubbard"; 
"Little Boy Blue"; " Little Bo Peep " ; " Three Little 



Kittens " ; " This Little Pig " ; " What Does the Bee Do? " 
The order in which the rimes have been named is to be 
followed in their use. The work with rimes is to be con- 
tinued at least through the first sixteen weeks of the school 
year. The vocabulary which the rimes furnish should be 
made the basis of many original sentences for blackboard 
work. Finally, words selected from the rimes will be the 
units from which the phonic drill will be developed. 

Begin with " Little Jack Horner " and require the pupils to 
memorize the rime thoroughly if it is not already known to 
them. The lines will be used later by the pupils for refer- 
ence, therefore, it is necessary that each child should have 
a complete mastery of the rime. The next step is motor 
expression of the thought conveyed by the rime ; dramatize 
the rime to make it very real to the pupils; see that each 
child performs the actions indicated in the rime. By this 
means, the lines become crystallized into a definite part of 
the child's experience. 

Blackboard Work. — Write the rime upon the black- 
board in large script and allow it to remain there for refer- 
ence in future work. Read the stanza slowly from the 
beginning, pointing to each word as it is named. Now call 
upon a pupil to imitate the reading just done by yourself, 
the class at the same time reading in chorus to aid the one 
at the board and to lessen the timidity of any members of the 
class who may be self-conscious. 

After they have become familiar with the written form of 
the entire rime, the pupils must be taught to recognize the 
lines when they are written in any order. Write a single 
line of the rime beside the original copy and call upon pupils 
to find the corresponding line of the complete copy of the 
rime. The pupils should now be directed to read the rime 
from the beginning until they come to the line under con- 



sideration which can now be read. Herein lies the necessity 
for absolute familiarity with the selection ; loss of time can- 
not otherwise be avoided at this stage of the work. Write 
another line and continue the work in this manner until 
the pupils recognize the lines in any order without reference 
to the original copy of the rime. When mistakes are made, 
call upon another pupil to read and then require the pupil 
who made the mistake to read the line correctly. 

Type Words and Sentences. — When the lines have 
been mastered, proceed to the teaching of words as elements 
of the sentence by a similar method. Select, first, from 
the rime words which connote actions and objects. Write 
a word on the board, then call upon a pupil to find the word 
in the rime and to tell what it is. Proceed in this way until 
the children can name the principal words of the rime with- 
out looking at it for aid. As fast as possible, combine these 
words into original sentences which the children dramatize 
and then read. The variety of sentences, at first, will not 
be very great, but when two or three rimes have been mas- 
tered, the number of sentences that can be formed will 
increase rapidly. As soon as possible, group the sentences 
in story form. Open the path for transition from the rime 
to the reading book by selecting for sentence work words 
common to the rime and to the first lessons of the reader. 
After a few weeks, exercises on rimes may alternate with 
phonic and reading exercises. 

Phonic Drill. — A period preceding that devoted to 
reading should be set apart for drill in phonics. The word 
" sat," for example, may be taken from the first line of 
" Little Jack Horner " for use as an introduction to oral 
analysis into phonic elements, for the teaching of the first 
phonograms and sight words, and for the first blending of 
elements. Speak the word slowly until the pupils can 



distinguish the initial consonant from the remainder of 
the word. Write the letter " a " on the board and teach it 
by its short sound, not by the name of the character. 
Write the word "at," encourage the pupils to give words 
beginning with the " s " sound and words including the 
simpler word " at." 

In connection with the phonic work based upon the word 
" sat," teach the sounds of the letters " p," " h," " f," and 
" m." Blend or combine the new sounds with the sight 
word "at," thus: p-at, p-at-s, h-at, h-at-s, etc. The use 
of phonic cards for drill may now begin. At first, the 
teacher should prepare the necessary cards, but should 
make them of the same size as those supplied with the 
manual that she will use later. Large script should be used, 
the characters being written on one side and printed on the 
other so that both forms of the character may be presented 
to the class. Take a position in front of the class where 
every child can see clearly the writing on the card presented. 
Direct the class to name the characters in turn so that you 
need call upon no one as you show the cards. Expose the 
cards rapidly, going around a class of thirty within three or 
four minutes. When a pupil fails to give the sound or 
phonogram instantly, say, " Tell " as a signal for the class 
to give it. At first there will be many failures but with 
practice a marked improvement will soon be noticeable. 
This rapid work keeps every child alert and cultivates the 
quickness of eye that will be so necessary, by and by, in 
reading. 

In all phonetic work, make sure that you can yourself 
utter every phonic element accurately and very distinctly, 
and in the introduction of a new phonogram speak it many 
times, for the children learn most rapidly by imitation. 
After some progress has been made, select words and com- 

23 



binations with reference to the first lessons in the reader. 
Make a list of words, grouping them as (a) words learned 
from the rimes, (b) new words that can be taught as sight 
words, (c) new words that can be formed by blending two 
or more phonic elements. Prepare a list of the elements 
into which the words of the third class must be analyzed, 
and teach them to the children. Teach the pupils to 
analyze these words into their phonic elements and to mas- 
ter the word pronunciation by blending its elements. At 
first it may be necessary to underline certain groups of 
letters when words are analyzed, but discontinue the 
practice as soon as possible. 

Children learn to talk by experimenting with their organs 
of speech until they hit upon a combination of sounds that 
satisfies their ear. If the ear is dull or has failed to note 
certain inaccuracies or has become tolerant of these, the 
child has accepted a faulty utterance and confirmed it 
through repetition. The teacher should know the correct 
position of each organ in producing sound and should 
direct the child's exercise of his vocal organs when sounds 
are formed inaccurately. The " th," " f," and " s " sounds 
require special attention. 

Reading by Pupils (Sight Reading) . — After the 
phonic elements have been mastered, sentences should be 
built up on the board and read in script. Books may then 
be distributed and pupils directed to read the first sentence 
or " story " silently, then some pupil should give it aloud 
without looking at the book. Reading is, at best, a matter 
of distributed attention. The child must heed the report 
of the eye, grasp the content in meaning, and attend to the 
task of utterance. These tasks should, at first, be made 
distinct and successive, but, later, the combined tasks should 
be undertaken. Drill to this end may be given by cards 

24 



with words and sentences plainly printed upon them and 
displayed as phonograms are with the phonic cards. When 
the child fails to grasp the thought or to recall it, he should 
turn again to the book and read the sentence silently until 
he can repeat it without failure; when he fails to recognize 
the word, he should not be told but led to master it through 
analysis into phonic elements and recombination. As 
ability to read advances, increase the number of words or 
sentences to be read silently and then expressed orally ; the 
logical relation and order of thought in continued discourse 
can thus be grasped. Before the first reader has been com- 
pleted, notify the superintendent that another textbook 
may be supplied; repeated readings deaden interest; each 
class should read through several first readers before it 
advances to the more difficult tasks of the second reader. 
Reading by the Teacher. — The teacher should select 
with great care such reading as will aid in the moral, 
emotional, and mental development of her pupils. Such 
selections must possess a distinct literary value, and must 
have some definite and apparent relation to the environ- 
ment and experience of the children. In the selection 
of stories and poems, it must be constantly kept in mind 
that the child's attention or inattention will be determined 
by his ability to understand the subject matter and by 
the personality and manner of the reader. It becomes 
evident, therefore, that the literature chosen must satisfy 
one or more of the following requirements: 

1. Poems or stories chosen must lie within the range 
of the child's understanding. 

2. They must bear a definite relation to his nature work. 

3. They must supply some thought that can be made 
the basis of tasks in motor activity. 

2 5 



4- They must quicken the imagination. 
5. They must define some moral principle, shape some 
ideal, or quicken the child's sympathy with such. 

The teacher must decide whether a given selection 
should be read to the children or will be realized best 
if told as a story. In general, it may be said that reading 
is preferable to over much story-telling. 

The following texts are suitable for the teacher's use with 
the first grade: " Raggylud " and " Molly Cotton Tail " 
correlate with nature study; "The Children's Hour" 
with home experiences; " Prince Harweda " and " The 
Little Gray Grandmother " are a corrective to selfishness; 
"The Story of Ab " and the "Story of Prometheus" 
are used in the Horace Mann School of New York in corre- 
lation with primitive life studies. Here also " Hiawatha's 
Childhood"; "The Four Winds" from "Hiawatha"; 
Riley's " Song of the Brook "; Stockton's " Old Pipes and 
the Dryad "; Field's "Why Do Bells at Christmas Ring?"; 
"Moore's "The Night Before Christmas"; Stevenson's 
" Little Shadow " and " Land of Story Books " find favor. 
Other selections that can be drawn upon at will are: — 
" Stepping-Stones to Literature (First Reader); "Child 
Life " (First Reader); Cyr's Primer; " Nino and Juanita " 
from Carroll's "Around the World"; selections from 
Thompson's " Fairy Tales and Fables " (Second Reader).* 

Certain of these texts, once read by the teacher, become 
good reading material for the class. Thus, " The Story 
of Ab " can be used, beginning with class periods of ten 
or fifteen minutes and increasing the length of period 
slowly. The task should center in thought getting, not in 

* A bibliography from which selections are made for the Horace Mann School is 
given in the " Teachers' College Record," Vol. VII. 

26 



word or sentence mastery. Sketching, dramatizing, will 
aid in impartimg the thought. By the use of Fulton's 
" Sign and Price Marker," sentences can easily be printed 
with slight changes; then, a group of sentences can be 
mastered. This exercise should be devoted strictly to the 
quick grasping of thought from print and should not be 
confused with the drill in the mechanics of oral reading. 

Further, the teacher should be guided in making her 
selections by the requirements of motor and color work. 
She may find it desirable for these reasons to include 
" The Three Bears "; Sidney's " The Little Brown Seed "; 
Poulsson's "In the Child's World"; Mullock's " Cock 
Robin " or others. 

Memory Selections. — Only the best things in litera- 
ture should be given to children and stored in memory; 
these must be characterized by (i) simplicity, (2) imagina- 
tive quality, (3) excellence in simple rhythms, etc., and 
these characteristics must be so embodied that they will 
be felt by the child although he cannot tell why the selec- 
tion pleases him. Among such memory gems the following 
may be listed: Rossetti's "Who has Seen the Wind?"; 
Helen Deane's "Cleanliness"; from Ella M. Powers' 
"Selected Memory Gems," "Our Flag"; Mary Bailey's 
" Motion Verses for the First Grade "; Elizabeth Denison's 
" Kindness and Love "; Harriet C. Brown's " A Cure for 
Crossness"; Ella M. Powers' "Kindness"; Maud M. 
Grant's "The Pumpkin"; Bertha E. Bush's "In Fall"; 
Stevenson's " Rain "; Taylor's " Little Pussy." 

Oral Composition. — No part of the training in Eng- 
lish is more important than the exercises in oral expression. 
These exercises do not require separate periods for instruc- 
tion ; they should be given in connection with the reading, 
nature study, motor work; every form of childhood's 

27 



activities affords opportunities for a connected statement 
of the child's activity or interest. A connected narrative 
must deal with events having a sequence in time, and, with 
little children, will consist of a statement of successive acts. 
These are the incidents which must be seized upon by the 
teacher as the material suitable for practice in connected 
speech. Even with exercises of this character, the teacher 
will find it difficult to secure a sustained narrative; the 
child in his haste omits impatiently the preparatory steps 
and desires to leap at one bound into the thick of things 
and proclaim the outcome. A friendly contest in telling 
all of the story will lead them to see after a time that the 
steps of approach are not to be neglected and that prepara- 
tion is necessary for every climax. 

The child's daily life affords much material for oral ex- 
ercises. Some suggestive topics are: " Experiences on 
the Way to School," " Deeds of the Recess Time," " Ex- 
periences in the Schoolroom " — of various kinds. Stories 
that have been told or read by the teacher can be repro- 
duced, especially with the aid of consecutive drawings 
on the board to which the child may point, using them 
one by one, as he tells his story. Friendly competition 
in the development of the tale is commonly more effective 
than the asking of questions, although the teacher must 
often by comment or question show what is lacking in the 
story as told. Whenever possible, stories should be chosen 
which will correlate with the motor work or with nature 
study by supplying a thought unit that will give purpose 
and unity to the activity. 

The first purpose of the teacher in these exercises is the 
development of ideas concerning sequence, preparation, 
adequacy of statement, etc., but she should aim no less 
at securing correct speech and distinct, expressive, and 

28 



controlled utterance. These objects, however, cannot be 
secured by such interruption during narration as will in 
any measure disturb the flow of thought. When slang, 
incorrect speech, or the wrong word falls from the lip, 
the teacher may speak the right word, but should not ex- 
pect the child to reword his expression or halt in any way 
in his effort for creative composition. After the child has 
finished, sometimes a word of correction is possible but never 
such criticism as will make the child self-conscious in later 
efforts. 

English. — Grade One. — Semester B 

The methods in English for the first term should be 
continued through the second semester with little change. 
Reading by the pupil and by the teacher, oral composition, 
dramatization, and the memorizing of choice selections 
should receive most attention, instruction keeping pace 
with the developing ability of the pupil. The names of 
the letters and their order in the alphabet should be thor- 
oughly learned. Drill in phonics should advance from the 
easier to more difficult phonograms. Sentences of greater 
complexity of structure can be undertaken in reading, 
and a much greater variety in words can now be introduced. 
Strive to interest the children in observing and learning 
new words upon their own initiative. Lists can thus 
be gathered for the blackboard and exercises based upon 
them as in the former term upon the words in the rimes. 

Begin now the study of syllabification ; teach the children 
to recognize the syllables of which words are composed. 
Write the words on the board, first, as wholes, then, separated 
into syllables. Distribute cards bearing lists of words 
separated into syllables, write such words as wholes on 
the board and teach the children to find the word on their 

29 



cards, write other words and ask pupils to separate them 
into syllables by vertical lines. This exercise should lead 
to a consciousness of syllabification which will be of direct 
service in pronunciation and in spelling. 

The range of reading by the teacher may be enlarged 
by the addition of: Poulsson's " The Sunbeams "; Wads- 
worth's " Over the Meadow "; McDonald's " The Baby "; 
Grimm's " The Sleeping Beauty "; Anderson's " The Little 
Matchseller "; Anderson's " The Snow Queen." 

The Memory Selections may include : Old Gaelic Lullaby 
" Hush ! The Waves Are Rolling In " ; Tennyson's " What 
Does Little Birdie Say"; Allingham's "Robin Red- 
Breast"; Taylor's "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"; 
and the remainder of the Mother Goose Jingles. 

All exercises in spelling throughout the first year should 
be restricted to those words which the pupil has occasion 
to write. Penmanship during this year should consist 
of the writing of such words as the child has occasion to use 
in copying sentences of the work in English or in the sim- 
plest statements in the observation of nature. These words 
should be written in large script with crayon or coarse 
pencil point and in what might be called a vertical hand. 
No child should undertake to write continuously in an arm 
or forearm movement before the fifth grade, and until 
that time writing should be looked upon as a mode of pre- 
serving or imparting information and its legibility should 
be its one excellence. 

Motor Work. — Grade One. — Semester A 

The selection of tasks in motor work should be governed 
by the following principles: 

i . The things made must stand for ideas of large social 
meaning. 



2. They must be things that the child feels are worthy 
of his best efforts. 

3. They must be of a nature calculated to represent 
the child's own expression of the subject under discussion. 

4. They must be simple enough for him to execute with 
little or no aid on the mechanical side. 

5. They must not be so complicated as to demand 
numerous directions and frequent assistance, though the 
teacher should aid to a clear image and to technique of 
the tool. 

6. They must not demand too long continued applica- 



tion. 



These principles, which are in large part those formulated 
by the teachers of the Horace Mann School, vary in im- 
portance with the different tasks; 1 and 2 are especially 
important when the tasks are closely knit with a thought 
unit, such as the Primitive Life thought unit which is so 
prominent in the Horace Mann work; 3 and 5 are not so 
pertinent in paper exercises in which the child follows the 
teacher's act imitatively and attention is directed to the 
correlated number work; but in creative work these prin- 
ciples are of first importance. In all work dependent upon 
the child's initiative, the power to image the product 
should be cultivated. 

In the work of the first grade, paper, cardboard, clay, 
grasses, rushes, raffia, leather, cord, wood and twigs, cloth, 
sand, and stone may be used. An Indian village with its 
industries is a good sand-table subject with the parts 
distributed to different pupils, or to different groups under 
their respective leaders. 

Paper Folding and Cutting. — Through paper fold- 
ing and cutting, touch is made more delicate, muscles 

31 



are trained in accuracy, hands and eyes become accustomed 
to working together. These exercises teach the child 
to think quickly and accurately, and afford perhaps the 
best introduction to the study of number, bulk, dimensions, 
wholes, parts or fractions. 

For the first eight weeks, the tasks should consist of 
easy exercises in paper folding and simple construction. 
For all independent work, a thought unit should be given ; 
that is, the product of the child's activity should have 
place in the general plan of the thought unit. This thought 
unit may be taken from the stories of the English work 
of the grade, as " The Three Bears," for which tables and 
chairs must be made, or from nature, as sowing-time 
or harvest. The thought unit must be so selected that the 
tasks involved will fall, as nearly as possible, under princi- 
ple 4. In the imitative tasks, where the child follows 
the action or direction of the teacher, the exercises should 
be graded according to the difficulty of execution, the facts 
of number or of form that should be learned next through 
this exercise, or with reference to the character of the 
mental or imaginative activities involved. 

The first exercises should be correlated with number and 
word teaching. Teach the terms, square, oblong, edge, 
corner, side, right, left, size, shape. Use the six-inch square 
of paper as the basis from which, by folding and unfold- 
ing, the numbers from one to sixteen are learned with 
addition and subtraction within those numbers. For 
detail of work, see Worst's " Constructive Work," Mum- 
ford & Co., Chicago, or Hobart's " Paper Construction 
for Primary Grades," J. L. Hammett & Company, Boston, 
Mass. 

No measuring should be done by the pupils during the 
first half year nor should the foldings exceed sixteen. 

32 



A supply of paper cut to the different sizes used in these 
exercises should be kept in stock. In the creative work 
of the first eight weeks, the articles made may include 
seed boxes, seed envelopes, tables, chairs, beds, baskets, 
soldier caps, boats, sleds, etc. In the graded work where 
the teacher leads and develops the application of facts, 
the teacher must work before the class and also see that 
each child does exactly as directed. Directions must be 
given slowly and distinctly. As an illustration of method 
the following first lesson is given: 

The teacher is seated before the class where each child 
can watch her execution as she directs them. Task, — the 
simple folding of a six-inch square of paper. Dictation 
and questioning: — Grasp the middle of one edge of the 
paper between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand 
and hold it squarely in front of you. What shape is the 
paper? (Teach square.) Find the right edge; the left 
edge; the upper edge; the lower edge. How many edges 
has a square? Which edge is the longest? Find the right 
upper corner; the right lower corner; the left upper corner; 
the left lower corner. How many corners has a square? 

Grasp your paper by two corners and hold it squarely 
before you. (Teacher illustrates.) Place the paper on the 
table with the edge between the fingers near the front 
edge of the table and parallel with it. Place the front cor- 
ners of the paper upon the rear corners. Hold with the 
forefingers and crease the paper with the thumbs, beginning 
at the middle of the fold and creasing toward the right 
and left edges. (This calls for a coordinated movement 
of hands and arms.) 

Lift the paper by the corners of the crease and hold the 
paper up as before. What is the shape of your paper? 
(Teach oblong.) Which sides are longer than the others? 

33 



How many sides has the oblong? How many corners has 
the oblong? 

Lay the paper on the table as before. Unfold and smooth 
out the crease. How many oblongs do you see on the paper? 
Which is the larger? What part of the square is the oblong? 
(Teach one-half.) 

Hold the paper before you by the corners so that the 
crease extends from top to bottom. Place upon the table 
as before. Fold the front corners upon the rear corners. 
Hold the corners in place with the fingers and crease with 
the thumbs. What shape is the paper now? Turn the paper 
over. What is the shape of the other side? How many 
squares in each oblong? Open the paper. How many 
squares in the paper? (Teach one-fourth.) 

By folding from the edges to the center crease and again 
the opposite edges to the center, the number work can be 
advanced, but it is best to limit the first lesson to a study 
of number from one to four inclusive, employing, however, 
addition and subtraction within these limits. 

In the second lesson, the numbers developed in the first 
should be placed on the board, the figures taught, if any 
do not know them, but the additions and subtractions 
should not be taught, as yet, with plus or minus signs. 
Soon, the children should make the notes on the board 
in figures and thus a beginning be made in the use of note- 
taking to preserve knowledge, which will be the main 
purpose of all writing in the primary grades. 

Sand Work. — The work in sand for the first eight 
weeks should consist in drawing with the index fingers 
of both hands subjects seen in the classroom or subjects 
correlated with the paper work, nature study, number 
and language. The first objects should be those only which 
have straight lines: table, chairs, window, door, picture 

34 



frame, ball frame, etc. The details for this work can be 
found in " Sand Modeling " by A. Wadsworth, published 
by E. J. Arnold & Sons, Leeds, England. The material 
necessary is a number of shallow boxes filled with clean 
white sand. 

Number Work. — Grade One. — Semester A 

All the work of the first term in number arises incidentally 
from the motor work and most of it from the paper work. 
Some children enter the first grade able to count but ig- 
norant of what the number signifies. The significance of 
counting should be taught, in this case, by combinations 
of marks, by blocks, by making and dividing lines. All 
should be taught to visualize a group without counting, 
as they do words in reading. Wherever possible, the child 
should first estimate length, quantity, or number; as in 
his need for three feet of cord, his wish for a quart of sand 
etc., and then correct his estimate by some test. 

As measurements are not introduced till the second 
term, correction of estimates cannot be carried far until 
then, but after that time, measurements, the making 
of change, and the observation of a three-minute hour- 
glass to gain an idea of time, are possible in the child's 
daily activities. 

During the first term, counting and combination within 
the number space of one to ten should be learned. Sub- 
traction can be taught by the Austrian method as a form 
of addition. The fractions one-half and one-fourth should 
be used familiarly and a few other unit fractions may be 
added. 

Seek the development of a true conception of number 
within the range of the child's daily occupations. Do not 

35 



be discouraged if results come slowly. The conscious grasp 
of number must be gained through rational use. There 
must be much repetition of all combinations. Each new 
number fact learned through one activity should immedi- 
ately be applied in other phases of the child's activities ; he 
must learn to apply to the concrete acts of his life the 
symbols which represent magnitude, quantity, etc. 

In the paper work after the first eight weeks, the ex- 
ercises follow the lines laid down for the earlier work. 
The following articles may be made: trunk, comb case, 
cradle, settee, bathtub, candy box, match safe, Christ- 
mas tree decorations, wall pocket, letter case, book mark, 
etc., if Worst's " Constructive Work " is the guide. In 
the sand work, following Wadsworth's " Sand Modeling," 
the objects drawn should be those of which the circle 
or oblong is the base; these will include, ball, moon or 
circle, plate, cat, orange, apple, plum, walnut, lemon, pear, 
mouse, potato, turnip, strawberry, carrot, and children's 
playthings, including doll's chest of drawers, doll's house, 
kite, bucket and spade, bat and ball, slate, boat, engine, 
drum. Each exercise or drawing should be accompanied 
with rimes and correlated with number. 

Motor Work. — Grade One. — Semester B 

Paper Work. — At the beginning of the second term, 
the pupil should learn to make simple measurements. 
If possible, secure rulers that do not have divisions smaller 
than the half-inch. Strips of bristol board, one inch wide 
and subdivided for inches and half inches, may be used 
but are not durable. 

The first exercise with the ruler is the drawing of lines, 
e. g. draw four lines, each two inches long; four more, each 

36 



three inches long; four more, each four inches long, etc. 
Question the children after this manner: How many two- 
inch lines can be made from a six-inch line? How much 
longer is the six-inch line than the four-inch line? 

In order to draw a perfect square or oblong, the child 
must be taught to draw a perfect right angle. A right 
triangle cut from heavy cardboard will be helpful in draw- 
ing the corners of squares and oblongs. 

As in the first term, the articles constructed will fall 
roughly into two classes, the independent creative work 
of the child suggested by a developed thought unit, where 
the teacher's part is that of suggestion and is wholly subor- 
dinate to the child's initiative; the graded work which 
is directed by the teacher that the child may gain new con- 
ceptions of form, greater manual dexterity, deeper imagina- 
tive power through the effort to visualize forms of in- 
creasing complexity. In pursuance of one or other of these 
purposes, the following articles may be made: — Trunk, 
comb case, paper wind mill, wall pocket, postage-stamp case, 
thread winder, — which is a fundamental form for many 
later constructions, — paper chains for decorative purposes, 
through which color harmony and contrasts can be intro- 
duced. An excellent outline for this work may be found 
in Worst's " Constructive Work." 

Sand Work. — The sand drawing which began in the 
fall should be continued, but in the second term the notion 
of solidity should be developed. The teacher should be 
conversant with the teaching of solid objects in the kinder- 
garten and so conduct instruction as to review the knowl- 
edge there obtained and advance to clearer conceptions. 
This instruction should also prepare and introduce the 
work in clay modeling which will be more strongly empha- 
sized in the second year. 



37 



The materials required are sand, sand-board, models, 
and a wooden spatula for molding the sand. The objects 
to be studied are the cube as a whole, the cube divided into 
eight smaller cubes, and the cube as composed of two 
solid triangles. The model should in every case be placed 
before the child and he should be encouraged to plan his 
work after it. The directions given may be as follows: 
Make a pile of sand on a clean part of the board. Flatten 
the top of the sand heap. Cut through the sides of the pile 
of sand and scrape away the material until the portion 
remaining is similar to the model placed before you. 

Take one form at a time as an exercise. To form the 
solid triangles, model a cube and cut along a diagonal. 
Form the smaller cubes by cutting the large cube hori- 
zontally and midway between top and bottom, then ver- 
tically along lines half way between the top edges and 
parallel to them. 

In the drawing in sand, the following objects may be 
drawn: — flag, candle and stick, mug of cherries, comb, 
bell, basket, horseshoe, well, pussy-cat, Humpty-Dumpty, 
Little Miss Muffet, Hickory, Dickory Dock, Jack Sprat, 
See-Saw; these may be associated with appropriate rimes 
and correlated with number, nature study, and English. 
An excellent outline for this work may be found in Wads- 
worth's " Sand Modeling." 

Clay Work. — During this semester, clay may be used 
for the modeling of fruits if the teacher desires, but de- 
tailed instructions for clay work are reserved for dis- 
cussion under Grade Two. 

Cord Work. — The work with cord is so simple that it 
can easily be dictated to a large group. It affords valuable 
training in that it gives employment to both hands equally, 
teaches concentration and trains the power of observation. 

38 



It arouses the child and stimulates him to originality of 
expression in design and invention; it is also a desirable 
introduction to the basketry and weaving of the second year. 
It affords instruction in color combinations and in simple 
number. 

The first exercises should be with the knot, single string; 
the knot, double string; and fringe knotting. The single 
and double string knots may be used in various ways. 
If all are of the same size and of one color or of combined 
colors, they may be used as a fringe on a spread for the 
teacher's table, for example. The fringe knotting can be 
made into bags and hammocks for school use. 

The cord work for this semester may include : — single 
chain stitch of one string, chain stitch of two strings, 
spiral cord of two colors, single chain of see-saw knots, 
double chain of see-saw knots, combined single and double 
see-saw knots. An excellent outline for this work is given 
in Tinsley's " Practical and Artistic Basketry." 

Any cord except ordinary wrapping cord is suitable for 
the work of this grade. The teacher can add interest and 
teach colors and color harmony by dyeing cords for the 
different fundamental colors. 

Number Work. — Confine the number work of the 
second semester to the number space one to twenty inclu- 
sive. Teach in accordance with the principles observed 
in the first semester. Train the children to measure dis- 
tances, the units of measure being, first, the inch and, later, 
the half-inch. Correlate with cord work by measuring 
the distances between knots, with sand work by drawing 
lines of arbitrary length estimating their length and then 
measuring. Measure the dimensions of familiar things: 
pencil, sheet of paper, thickness of blocks, width of floor 
boards. Many suggestions are given in Worst's " Con- 

39 



structive Work," exercises XVII to XXXVI inclusive. 
In paper folding, folds to sixteen squares may be used and 
exercises in addition, subtraction by the Austrian method, 
and unit fractions for one-half, one- third, and one-fourth 
should be repeated until they are perfectly familiar. 

The year's work should include : — Counting by ones to 
twenty ; by tens to one hundred ; by twos from one to twenty- 
one, from two to twenty; by threes to eighteen; by fours 
to twenty; the writing of integers to one hundred; in addi- 
tion, combinations up to nine with one, two, three, and four; 
sums formed by counting with no carrying and no borrow- 
ing; in measurements and comparison, the pint, quart, 
inch, foot, yard, cent, five-cents, dime, and in written work, 
halves, thirds, fourths, and the signs plus, minus, and times. 
No formal analysis of problems should be given or required. 

Nature Study. — Grade One. — Fall and Winter 

The development of the individual and of society has 
been accomplished through the influences of natural en- 
vironment and through the application of the mind to the 
study of the outer world as it has been revealed to the mind 
through the different senses. The person who has been the 
closest observer of natural phenomena and of their relations 
to one another and to himself as a member of society, 
has entered most completely into the unity of the universe. 
In no other branch of school activity is there more abundant 
opportunity for the systematic evolution of personality. 
The poorest student, the boy who takes no interest 
in school work and who plays truant whenever he can, 
may be the one who has observed his surroundings most 
carefully and would profit most by some organized nature 
study. 

40 



The ultimate end of scientific nature study is the devel- 
opment of the individual and the unification of himself 
with his environment. Nature study in Grade One does 
not in any respect approximate a science, nor does it claim 
for itself so lofty a purpose as that stated above. The 
immediate reasons for its introduction into the work of the 
first year are as follows: 

1. To quicken the child's powers of observation. 

2. To add to his store of knowledge by adding to his 
experience. 

3. To provide material that will stimulate motor activity 
and vocal expression. 

4. To provide him with a basis for comparison. 

5. To establish correct relations between the child 
and his surroundings, pets, parents, playmates, and finally 
to lead to recognition of his relations with his Creator. 

For convenience, the material for nature study may be 
grouped under the following headings: (a) plant life; 
(b) animal .life; (c) physical phenomena. A small number 
of subjects selected from each division and presented so 
that the entire body of instruction reveals the interdepend- 
ence of the different subjects will produce better results than 
will be gained from discussion of unrelated phenomena. 
The teacher's first task, then, is to study the child's sur- 
roundings and to choose therefrom her points of departure. 

In all nature study, emphasize function and adaptation 
to life, rather than a detailed study of size, form, and color, 
which are to be taught more incidentally as affording means 
for the comparison of one subject with another. Teach 
first the subject as a whole, then parts or organs and their 
relation to one another and to the whole. The plant and 
animal study should be, in large part, a study of the living 

41 



plant and the live animal, the habits of life, processes of 
growth, beauty, etc., not chiefly analysis and the naming of 
parts. Teachers who prefer to teach the latter do so because 
these facts can be learned from books, while living processes 
must be learned from constant, close observation. The 
teacher who would conduct nature study in a true spirit 
must approach the subject in the attitude of a learner. 
She must have a personal knowledge of nature, a familiarity 
gained from actual experience. Every teacher should 
own some good books on the various branches of nature 
study; C. B. Scott's " Nature Study and the Child" is 
one that is especially helpful. 

Do not attempt too much at first; select those topics 
within your grade work with which you are most familiar 
and which are related to the child's interest, and carry 
these through to a definite result. As ease and familiarity 
are acquired, increase the range of subjects. Success will 
come only as the teacher is able to arouse the interest 
of the children in the study of nature, not in study 
about nature. Do not present new subjects in nature 
study by pictures. Study the object itself either in the 
schoolroom or by field excursions. In the study of a sub- 
ject, whether plant or animal, the organs and their special 
functions should be discovered by the children themselves; 
the same rule holds in the study of natural phenomena. 
The teacher should direct the child's attention to definite 
ends by judicious questioning. 

Animal Study. — The following series of lessons is 
given to suggest the method of studying animals: 

Lesson i. Home and Home Life. 
Lesson 2. Positions and Movements. 
Lesson 3. Feeding, Washing, and Senses. 

42 



Lesson 4. General External Structure — body and limbs; 
comparison with man ; adaptability to environment. 

Lesson 5. General External Structure — head, ears, teeth, 
in relation to life habits. 

Lesson 6. Relation of Parents to Young — feeding, 
mode of transportation, shelter, protection. 

Lesson 7. Comparison with other animals that have 
been studied. 

Lesson 8. Life History when this is possible. 

Lesson 9. Use or Harmfulness to Man. 

The cat is an excellent subject to begin with. If possible, 
the cat should be in the schoolroom for a few days before 
the lessons and during the lessons. In Lesson One, work 
along the lines suggested by the following topics: beauty, 
sociability, playfulness, calls, respects in which the cat's 
life is like ours, our care for pet cats. Lesson Two — 
Feeding habits, — (a) Drinking, comparison of the cat's 
method with the child's, (b) Eating. Let a child eat, and 
compare the cat's manner of eating with that of the child. 
Kinds of food that cats and children like and dislike, 
(c) Washing, (d) Sleeping. Lesson Three — Actions, — 
walking, running, climbing, jumping, creeping, grasping; 
peculiarities of sight and hearing. Lessons Four and Five — 
Structure, — legs and feet, head, ears, teeth. Compare 
these parts with the corresponding parts of the child. 
Lesson Six — Relation to young, — feeding, transporta- 
tion, shelter, protection. Lesson Seven — Use to mankind. 

In the study of birds, the hen can be used if some wild 
bird or pet does not seem preferable. Follow in general 
the outline given above, but do not overlook the three 
stages of development represented by the egg, the chick, 
and the hen. 

43 



Correlate the animal study with the English by the 
use of poems, pictures, and stories. An extensive bibliog- 
raphy of such material can be found in " Course of Study 
and Syllabus for Elementary Schools," Education Depart- 
ment Bulletin, Albany, N. Y., 1910. 

Plant Study. — Plant study for the fall should include, 
(a) the study of one or two plants as wholes; (b) formation 
and dissemination of seeds; (c) protection of buds and seeds; 
(d) comparative study of fruits. 

The work with plants should be organized and conducted 
with reference to the following topics: 

1. Natural surroundings. 

2. Organs, — their structure, functions and mutual de- 
pendence. 

3. Comparison with other plants as they are studied. 

4. Relation to man and the lower animals. 

The dandelion and buttercup are excellent plants about 
which the first series of lessons may be grouped. With 
either of these plants, the entire study can be conducted 
in the schoolroom, but field lessons are desirable. A 
modified order of lessons from C. B. Scott's " Nature 
Study and the Child " is given to suggest a method of 
procedure. 

Lesson 1. Preliminary. Several days before any in- 
struction is given, direct the pupils to observe the plant 
to be studied and to find out and report where it grows, 
its size, abundance, etc. 

Lesson 2. Preparation for field lesson. Gather up what 
the children have learned for themselves and prepare them 
for more definite observation. 

Lesson j. Field lesson. Lead the pupils to make defi- 

44 



nite observations upon the effect of environment upon the 
development of the plant. 

Lesson 4. Review and summary of field lesson. 

Lessons 5, 6 y 7, 8. Structure, function, adaptation and 
relation of roots, stem, leaves, and flowers. 

Dissemination and Protection of Seeds. — This work 
can be done most advantageously by field excursions. 
Begin with the study of some seed as a type and gather 
about it seeds of different characteristics. The seeds of 
thistle, aster, golden rod, or milkweed may be used as the 
type. Study the scattering of seeds by birds, by running 
water, by winds, by clinging to the fur of animals or the 
clothing of men, etc. Associate the work on seeds with 
motor work by the manufacture of paper seed boxes and 
seed envelopes; with sand work, by drawing the shapes of 
seeds; with English, by description and narrative by the 
children. Encourage the children to collect seeds for com- 
parison and preservation; each child should make a col- 
lection of seeds and so strengthen the ideas of ownership, 
care, and order. Seeds should be selected and preserved 
for the spring planting; by this means forethought is cul- 
tivated, and through this means the study of nature's pro- 
tection becomes significant. Further study of natural 
protection may be given through the examination of the 
winter buds of the poplar and horse chestnut. 

Fruits. — Select some fruit common to the locality of 
the school and group other types around it. The apple 
or pumpkin is a good subject with which to begin. The 
aim should be to show the relation of the fruit to the plant 
and the mutual relations between the fruit and man. The 
order of study may be as follows : — form and color ; cross 
section; correlation with drawing in sand; parts and their 

45 



uses; growth of fruit; uses to man and to the lower 
animals. 
Physical and Geographical Nature Study. — The 

work in physical phenomena in Grade One should be limited 
to observation by the pupils. No attempt should be made 
to add explanations which belong properly to more ad- 
vanced grades. This branch of nature study should be 
carried on in the late fall and the winter months; it should 
be grouped around heat and water, the chief factors in 
climatic conditions. Much of the work can be presented 
best by simple experiments in the classroom, for which 
purpose an alcohol lamp and a small basin are indispen- 
sable. The pupils should be familiar with the lamp and its 
flame before experimentation is attempted, as, otherwise, 
attention will be diverted from the experiment to the 
lighted lamp. 

The following topics may be of value as suggestive of 
lines of experimentation. 

1. Properties of water, — solution, buoyancy, absorption. 

2. Evaporation, — boiling and slow evaporation. 

3. Condensation. 

4. Forms of water, — fog, mist, vapor, clouds, frost, etc. 

The most striking of the forms is that of snow; observe 
its beauty, its purity in masses, the beauty it gives to nature. 
Study the shapes of crystals and correlate with motor 
activity by drawings in the sand box. Correlate with 
paper work through the manufacture of sleds, etc. Read 
poems about the snow and stimulate the children in form- 
ing mental images of winter scenes. 

Make observations upon the direction of winds, the 
appearance of clouds, color of sky at morning and evening, 

46 



position of the sun at a fixed hour of the day, etc. Teach 
the children the use of the compass and of the weather 
vane. 

Nature Study. — Grade One. — Spring 

Animal Life. — Make a comparative study of several 
of the common birds, such as the robin, sparrow, and 
swallow, with particular emphasis upon nest building, 
care of young, relation to plant life and to man. Follow 
the plan of the animal study given in the fall by selecting 
one bird as the type around which the work is organized. 
Stimulate interest and observation by keeping a bird 
calendar (on the blackboard, preferably,) with date of 
observation and name of observer. 

Plants. — ■ The plant study in the spring should emphasize 
germination and growth. Much of this study can be done 
in the classroom. Different kinds of seeds should be planted 
and a comparative study of their rates of growth should be 
made. Ask the pupils to bring from home vegetables, 
roots, and bulbs, that have already begun to send forth 
shoots, — potato, turnip, dahlia, etc. Observe the daily 
growth of some particular shoot of one of the vegetables; 
place twigs of willow or elder in water in a sunny place, 
and study the bursting of buds and the growth of leaves. 
Show that growth is dependent upon heat and moisture. 
The bean or the pea may be planted in boxes, seeds may be 
sown between a moistened blotter and the side of a bottle 
which the blotter lines and here studied as the roots begin 
to shoot forth. 

When the buds and leaves on the trees indicate that 
growth has begun, study these in the field, confining the 
work, for the most part, to a series of repeated observa- 
tions upon buds, leaves, and flowers of plants or trees, com- 

47 



paring these with the development of parts in some one 
plant, stage by stage. An apple tree is a good subject 
for spring study since the development can be traced with 
the growing fruit. Study the growth of plants from 
underground stems, etc. The lily-of- the- valley, Solomon's 
seal, and the trillium are excellent for the illustration of 
such growth. Make a comparative study of leaves, their 
shapes, size, etc. Teach the children to admire the flowers 
in their natural home, but discourage the ruthless picking of 
flowers. Keep a flower list to cultivate the habit of ob- 
servation in the child, record on this list the name of the 
flower, the date when it was found in bloom, and the name 
of the first observer. Correlate the work with other branches 
of school activity, draw the leaves in sand, make the ob- 
servations the basis of oral composition and stimulate 
emotional appreciation by frequent readings from poems, 
and by memory selections. 

Art Study. — Grade One. — Semester A 

Color and Form. — During the first term, instruction 
in art should be, for the most part, instruction in the use 
of color in mass and in the recognition of the simpler 
colors. Colored crayons, colored pencils, and water 
colors should be of the three primary colors at first — red, 
yellow, blue-green — but, after a little, other colors may 
be used. In this matter the teacher does well to be conser- 
vative about the introduction of a wider range of colors. 
In the drill in recognition, the color disks may be used to 
establish with accuracy the standard colors and advance 
may be made as rapidly as recognition becomes accu- 
rate and immediate. By the use of color in mass, leaves, 
fruits, simple flowers, and easy forms may be reproduced. 

48 



Emphasis should not be placed upon accuracy of drawing 
beyond some study of form in the sand-box drawings. 
Effort should be directed to the visualizing of correct 
forms through the comparison of pictures, of objects 
of a kind but of differing perfection of form, e.g. apples, 
and of drawings made by the teacher. The mental copy 
should be made as perfect as possible during this time 
when the muscles are not yet ready for exacting effort. 

Art Study. — Grade One. — Semester B 

Color, Form, and Drawing. — The materials for use 
are crayons for blackboard work, soft marking crayons, 
black and colored, charcoal, brush with ink and water- 
color, boxes of seven colors, white, gray, and manila 
drawing-paper, also charcoal and Japanese rice paper. 

Plan the lessons with special reference to drawings, 
placing, arrangement, spacing, proportion, color. Hang 
the pupil's work on a line for class inspection and criti- 
cism. The critical faculty will develop more rapidly than 
the power to execute. Cultivate the imagination that the 
child may see more clearly with the mind's eye, may 
visualize; train in observation, in the desire for truthful 
presentation, in the feeling for color and in skill in its use. 
Let the children draw from nature, from memory, and to 
illustrate poems, incidents, etc. Use bright colors and 
coarse points. 

Penmanship. — Grade One 

As was stated under the subject English, any writing for 
purposes of communication or record should be done 
with a coarse pencil or crayon in what might be termed 

49 



a vertical hand ; such writing will be very limited in amount 
and can hardly be thought of as establishing a hand. 
The desired hand is the inclined forearm movement, but 
the accessory muscles are as yet too undeveloped for any 
systematic training in the details of such hand writing. 
It is desirable, however, that a correct mental copy for 
words should be established, and that the fundamental 
muscles upon which the activity of the accessory muscles 
will in their time depend should receive exercise. At 
first, the teacher writes a simple word on the blackboard 
and calls attention to the letters, writes it several times 
with varying excellence that the different copies may be 
compared but leaves only the best on the board. Short 
sentences are visualized in the same manner. In the sec- 
ond term, large marking crayons may be distributed and 
drill given in up-and-down strokes and in oval movements 
for the training of the large muscles. Cards with perfect 
copies for practice in quick recognition may be used. 
Copies may be distributed for tracing through transparent 
paper if such have been pasted to blocks. Whatever the 
devices the teacher may use, she should hold clearly in 
mind that her task is to lead the child to visualize and to 
train fundamental muscles only, not to teach him to write. 
Much of value concerning method in art and in penman- 
ship can be learned from the ''Teachers' College Record," 
Vol. VII, 1906. 

Music. — Grade One 

Notation should not be taught in the first grade but 
rhythms should have emphasis and the children should 
be led to carry the musical image mentally. The work 
consists of songs associated with daily experience, such 



as " Snowflakes," in Niedlinger's " Small Songs for Small 
Singers," which is used in the Horace Mann School. 
Mood, description, characterization, should be felt by the 
class. Each feature is to be worked out, — the flowing, 
gentle rhythm, a moderate tempo, and the desired quality 
of tone. The rhythm pattern can be given by clapping. 
The song may be sung in alternate silent and audible 
phrases, the children carrying the musical image when 
silent. 

The gains that should be carried into the second grade 



are: 



I. A tone more musically sustained and concentrated 
than the shouting voice or the too relaxed tone. 

2. Usually, a complete change where pupils have sung 
in monotone. 

3- A repertoire of twenty or thirty songs. 

4- A habit of listening to variations in sounds. 

5- Ability to recognize and describe the more obvious 
effects arising from the various relations of pitch, tempo, 
rhythm, force, etc. 



Physical Training. — Grade One 

Plays and Games. — The development of self-control 
through plays and games is one important object in this 
training. The presence of a guide, or rather of one who 
will suggest, is necessary, but initiative and leadership 
should be left so far as possible with the children; coopera- 
tion may be suggested, but the associating of groups 
and the agreement for common action should come so far 
as possible from the children themselves. The competi- 
tive element should be absent from these games unless 

Si 



introduced by the children themselves. Games of value 
in this grade are: — Drop the Handkerchief, Hare and 
Hounds, Follow the Leader, Crossing the Brook, Passing 
the Beanbag. 

Gymnastic Training.' — Every child should be sub- 
ject to the observation of one skilled to detect physical 
defects, although the extent to which formal examination 
should be carried will vary with the child. For example, 
few children in this grade can give any report of much 
value in regard to nearsightedness or dullness of hearing. 
At least twenty minutes each day should be spent by each 
child in the gymnasium with a special teacher. The ex- 
ercises for each should be planned, first, for the correction 
of known defects; secondly, for general development. 
The general exercises should include marching and dancing, 
leg and body exercises, which may be carried out by the 
aid of dumb-bells or, to some extent, by the use of such 
apparatus as ropes, stall bars, horizontal ladder, balance 
beams, giant stride, jump standards, etc. All formal 
exercises should be given with music. 

Seat Work. — Grade One 

While the work defined above is sufficient to keep every 
child occupied all the time, it often happens that the exi- 
gencies of the schoolroom make the prompt provision of 
an activity suited to the child impossible. It is well, there- 
fore, to have in reserve certain tasks that can be drawn 
upon to fill such vacant periods, for nothing can harm a 
child more than the growth of a habit of dawdling or the 
listless passing of time. For this reason, the following dis- 
cussion of seat work, a summary of the work provided in 
the Horace Mann School as given in the " Teachers' College 

52 



Record," Vol. VII, is added to the syllabus for Grade 
One. 

The object of seat work is: 

1. To keep children occupied. 

2. To teach them to work independently. 

3. To teach them to work neatly and accurately. 

4. To develop consideration for others. 

5. To supplement the work of the lesson period. 

In the introduction of new work the teacher or assistant 
should direct, but later each child should work independ- 
ently. 

Suitable exercises are: 

1. Words printed on cardboard may be built into sen- 
tences that are hung before the class. 

2. Sentences selected from the reading are built up from 
memory. 

3. Original sentences are made. 

4. Written sentences are reproduced in printed words. 

5. Words printed on paper are pasted in dictionaries. 

6. Dictionaries are made from manila paper 8" x 5" 
for leaves, cardboard 8j" x 5 J" for cover; fold, tie, paste 
capital and small letter alphabetically at top of each page. 

7. Letters printed on inch squares of cardboard to 
reproduce words. 

8. Letters to build sentences. 

9. Phonograms built up by letters. 

10. Illustrations for reading lesson by drawing, painting, 
or paper cutting. 

11. In counting — a list of figures on the board repro- 
duced in stringing beads with button between numbers. 

12. Stick laying to meet directions for three twos, etc. 

13. Manual work in cardboard, etc. 

53 



CHAPTER III — GRADE TWO 



PROGRAM 

FORMAL STUDIES 
Forenoon 
Hours 



FOR GRADE IT 

MOTOR SUBJECTS 



Groups 
A B 



9.00-9.10 Music (song), recitation in chorus, 10 10 
9.10- 9.18 Demonstration (Paper Work), 8 8 

9.18- 9.33 Arithmetic and Plane Form, 15 

Paper Work, 
9-33 _ 9-48 Arithmetic and Plane Form, . . 15 

Paper Work, . . . . 15 

9.48- 9.56 Gymnastics, out of doors or in 
gymnasium, marching and de- 
velopment exercise, 8 8 
9.56-10.02 Luncheon, 6 6 
10.02-10.07 Demonstration (Clay Work), 5 5 
10.07-10.27 Phonics and Reading, 20 . . 

Clay Work, 
10.27-10.47 Phonics and Reading, . . 20 

Clay Work, . . . . 20 

10.47-10.56 Recess, Free Play, 9 9 

10.56-11.02 Story Telling by Teacher, 6 6 

1 1. 02-1 1.22 Oral Composition by motor 
groups, with penmanship in- 
struction twice a week for 
fifteen minutes, 20 20 

Written Composition, . . . . 15 

11.22-11.45 Games, Dramatization, etc., 23 23 

11.45 Dismissal. 



Groups 
A B 

1,2,3 4,5,6 



15 



20 



15 



54 



FORMAL STUDIES 
Afternoon 
Hours 



MOTOR SUBJECTS 



Groups 
A B 



Groups 
A B 



1,2,3 4,5,6 



1.30- 1.40 


Roll checked, Individual Memor 


V 










Selections, 


10 


10 






1.40- 1.46 


Demonstration (Sand Work), 


6 


6 






I.46- 2.01 


Reading, 
Sand Work, 


15 






15 


2.0I- 2.l6 


Reading, 
Sand Work, 




15 


15 




2.16- 2.3I 


Nature Study, 


15 


15 






2.3I- 2.39 


Recess, 


8 


8 






2.39- 2.46 


Luncheon, 


6 


6 






2.46- 3.OI 


Drawing and Color, 


15 


15 






3.01- 3.II 


Reading by teacher, or Memory 












Selections, 


10 


10 






3.1 1- 3.26 


Music, 


15 


15 






3.26- 3.34 


Plant Care, 






8 


8 


3-34- 3-54 


Cord Work, or Gardening, 


20 


20 or 


20 


20 


3-54 


Dismissal, or volunteer work in 


the garden. 







55 



COMMENTS ON THE PROGRAM FOR 
GRADE II 

No continuous description of the day's work is necessary 
for Grade II since in most particulars the procedure 
duplicates that in Grade I. 

In arithmetic, the content for this grade is less closely 
restricted to facts derived from paper work, although the 
range of computation arising from the paper work is greatly 
increased. Gardening now affords many data for arith- 
metical exercises, and nature study a few. 

The study of plane form advances through the intro- 
duction of the triangle, the circle, and some inscribed 
figures in paper construction, and solid form becomes 
familiar through construction in sand. 

The work in clay cultivates observation through the 
modeling of objects, develops coordinated control of mus- 
cles, and strengthens the sense of form. 

The teacher's story- telling in the forenoon presents in 
sequence the incidents which will supply the child with 
an outline for his efforts in oral composition. These inci- 
dents must often be given one by one, and then repeated 
by the children before the connected tale can be attempted. 
This drill should not be so exacting that the language will 
be repeated but should give the substance or point of the 
incident and the effective sequence. A series of black- 
board drawings is often more effective than many repe- 
titions. 

In oral composition, the greater profit is in the exer- 
cise itself although the listener gains something. Economy 
of the pupil's time, therefore, is furthered when he is occu- 
pied as much of the time as possible in the direct labor of 
composition. If, then, the most of the class can devote 

56 



themselves to individual tasks in written composition while 
the small group serves as audience for the narrator, the time 
of all will be most profitably employed. This saving of 
time is accomplished by calling one motor group at a time 
for oral composition while the rest of the class write the 
story. 

Instruction in penmanship in the second grade does not 
have for its main object the forming of the present hand- 
writing of the child, but the cultivation of the more funda- 
mental muscles upon which the pupil will rely when in 
later grades the forearm movement determines the hand. 
In this grade, for two periods in the week, practice on ovals 
and forearm strokes displaces oral composition. The chil- 
dren should be supplied with cheap foolscap paper and well- 
sharpened pencils and should follow the teacher as she 
writes upon the board and counts the more important 
movements to secure rhythm of movement and uniform 
speed. Frequent rest periods are necessary, but these 
should be devoted by each to a criticism of his own work; 
each should take measurements to determine departure 
from the desired slant, should test by the eye and by meas- 
ure for crowded or irregular groups, and by various devices 
should seek to train the eye through comparison and criti- 
cism to detect defects in execution and to judge of the 
advance he is making. The devices used must be simple, 
the results gained will seem small, but the habit of self- 
criticism will be strengthened. A friendly rivalry will 
prevent monotony and the dullness of routine. 

Little need be said concerning the afternoon program 
before we reach the subject of drawing and color. Draw- 
ing with the ruler in the paper work is the beginning of me- 
chanical drawing; freehand is employed, for the most part, 
in picture stories, representation for its story-telling 

57 



value, but also includes the drawing of natural objects, 
and, possibly, some slight beginnings in combinations 
for decorative purposes. Water color and crayon aid in 
the presentation of natural objects, and some drill with 
the color disks to extend the knowledge of colors will 
probably be desirable also. 

The reading by the teacher may take the form of story- 
telling; its purpose is the enlarging of the pupil's knowledge 
and appreciation of literature. The teaching of choice 
memory gems may displace the story- telling at the teacher's 
option since both exercises have a common purpose. 

As Froebel has pointed out, the service of the child in 
the care of living things brings a recognition of his coopera- 
tion with some vaguely discerned power in the maintenance 
of life, a greater consideration for living things, and a sense 
of responsibility for those committed to his care. Each 
child has his own plant which dwindles and dies if he 
neglects it, and this period for plant care is set apart that 
each may care for his own and indulge his interest and 
curiosity in the inspection of the possessions of others. 

The preliminary work for gardening can hardly begin 
to advantage before February 1st. Before that date, 
the period is used for cord work which finds a direct use 
in many articles and introduces the knitting of later grades. 
When the work outdoors begins, children should be en- 
couraged, if the weather is propitious, to continue their tasks 
until their garden-plots are fully cared for. They may 
learn thus that the work itself is more important than the 
closing hour and may come to feel their school life akin 
to their voluntary outdoor activities. The written con- 
sent of the parent for an extension of time by a half hour 
or more will often prevent misunderstandings. 



5S 



SYLLABUS FOR THE SECOND GRADE 
English. — Grade Two 

Phonic Drill. — The drill in phonics in this grade is 
to secure, (a) distinct articulation, (b) pure tone, (c) the 
power to read new words and to pronounce them accurately ; 
in brief, to promote the mastery of the mechanics of reading. 
Emphasis should be placed upon initial and final conso- 
nants and upon the correct utterance of sounds like oi 
in soil, er, ir, ur, in fern, girl, and burn, ing in final syl- 
lables, etc. Review the work done in the first year. Drill 
on the production of sounds, the blending of elements, 
and the analysis of words into their phonic elements. 
Seek variety by using a blackboard chart of phonograms, 
permitting the children in competition to give the sounds 
indicated, pointing to each phonogram as it is uttered. 
The training of the ear is as important as the drill in 
speaking. Let one child speak the sound combination 
and the others find the phonogram. Teach the children 
to be watchful for pronunciation in their classes and to 
seize the opportunity to show what phonogram was mis- 
pronounced. Be so persistent in regard to correct position 
and correct breathing as to establish habit in these particu- 
lars. Poor pronunciation and poor reading are often 
the result of nervousness or lack of self-control; the child 
who stands quietly free from any support and reads or 
speaks is acquiring a self-control of the greatest value; 
so also the child who reads without undue haste and with 
distinct articulation has acquired a self-possession of more 
worth than much knowledge. 

For at least one-half year, each formal reading lesson 
should be introduced by a drill on phonograms and by 
exercises in deep breathing. Whenever difficulties arise 

59 



in the reading lesson, the teacher should turn to the chart 
and give the drill necessary to enable the pupil to over- 
come for himself his difficulty, after which repeated prac- 
tice will train the vocal muscles in the coordinations 
required. 

Reading by the Pupil. — The objects sought through 
the training in reading in Grade Two are — (a) facility 
in pronunciation, (b) quick recognition of words, (c) 
comprehension of thought through silent reading, (d) 
interpretation of thought through oral reading. The method 
followed should be similar to that employed in the pre- 
ceding grade. The selections chosen should present much 
action that can be dramatized and should be of distinct 
literary excellence. Nothing introspective and little of 
sentiment should be included. 

Train the children to recognize phrases at sight as a 
group of words having a special relation to the other parts 
of the sentence. Failure to recognize words as a group 
leads to a halting, monotonous style of reading. Drill in 
the recognition of phrases can be given by the use of cards 
on which phrases have been printed, as in Grade One 
word cards were used. 

Selections in the form of dialogue are valuable in primary 
reading. By impersonation of the characters of the story, 
the children will catch the spirit of the text and interpret 
it naturally. 

Insist upon natural but controlled voice. Children often 
pitch their voices too high ; this is an indication of nervous- 
ness. The habitual use of clear, quiet tones by the teacher 
will do much toward the correction of this defect. All 
exercises that habituate the child to measured action 
and self-control in movement and utterance will facilitate 
the acquiring of a well-bred intonation and pitch of voice. 

60 



The silent reading of the sentence or paragraph should 
always precede the reading aloud. Often the selection 
should be read silently and the substance of the paragraph 
given without the book. The ability to grasp thought 
through silent reading is of first importance, and no training 
is more neglected in our schools than that which gives 
the pupil this power. A very considerable amount of text 
should be read in this term, much more than a single second 
reader contains. Stories and poems that the children love 
may be read many times but no text that does not 
appeal to them should be read a second time; new matter 
should always be supplied in abundance. 

For an excellent discussion of method in primary grades, 
see "Special Method in Reading for Primary Grades," 
McMurry, The Macmillan Company. 

Reading by the Teacher. — Systematic reading or 
reciting by the teacher affords one of the best means for 
strengthening the pupil's power to grasp thought addressed 
to the ear rather than to the eye, for quickening his ap- 
preciation of thought and of ideals that he can as yet grasp 
in outline only, for broadening his vocabulary and com- 
mand of phrasing, and for enlarging his knowledge of cus- 
toms and scenes other than those of his neighborhood. 
Selection of stories and poems should be governed by the 
principles laid down for the first grade but these may be 
interpreted less narrowly than in the earlier work. In 
the choice of material, the value of the text, (a) in literary 
quality, (b) in thought units that can be used in motor 
work, (c) in its opportunities for dramatization, should be 
kept in mind. If the thought units are grouped around 
pastoral life in this grade, as in the Horace Mann School, 
the bibliography given in the "Teachers' College Record," 
Vol. VII, will afford an ample supply of reading. For motor 

61 



exercises more closely graded for difficulty and for the cul- 
tivation of the emotional nature, the following may be 
suggested: Andersen's " Fairy Stories"; Grimm's "Folk 
Stories"; Firth's "Stories of Old Greece"; Poulsson's 
" In the Child's World "; Cooke's " Legend of the North- 
land"; Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith"; Steven- 
son's "Child's Garden of Verses"; Baldwin's "Fairy 
Stories and Fables"; "Stepping Stones to Literature" 
(Book II); " Graded Classics " (Book II). 

Story-telling should not displace reading by the teacher 
but rightfully holds an important place in the education 
of the child's taste for literature; it is a difficult art in which 
the teacher should acquire a high degree of skill. The 
chapter on " How to Tell Stories to Children," in " Special 
Method in Reading for the Grades," McMurry, will be 
found helpful. 

Oral Composition. — Follow the suggestions given for 
oral composition in the first grade. Encourage the chil- 
dren to converse freely with one another concerning their 
daily experiences, and in these exercises establish habits 
of correct inflection and emphasis. Require the children 
to speak distinctly and in natural but controlled tones. 
Train the children to make complete statements in reply 
to questions asked by other pupils or the teacher. Discuss 
those subjects that are to form the basis of written composi- 
tions. Lead the pupil to incorporate into his vocabulary 
of use the new words that he acquires from the reading 
lessons, memory selections, reading by the teacher, etc. 
Encourage the children to express a thought in various 
sentence forms. Make oral composition an important 
feature of every phase of the daily life. 

Training should now be given in continued narrative. 
Many children talk in scraps ; they should learn to tell their 

62 






story in its completeness. At first, a story two minutes 
long will be a great achievement, but practice will enable 
them to maintain a narrative for five minutes or longer. 
Children should be taught, when speaking, to stand quietly, 
without leaning against a desk or chair for support. This 
is often best accomplished by providing some means for 
the outflow of nervous energy, a pointer or expressive 
action accompanying the tale. Aimless reflex movements 
are objectionable, but controlled significant action is 
highly desirable. Through the exercises in oral composi- 
tion, the training in self-control can be advanced, perhaps 
more readily than in any other school exercise. 

To secure sustained narration, a topic is required which 
will present a series of acts or incidents so related that each 
depends upon the one preceding. The story of one's 
adventures on the way to school is a popular exercise. 
A series of drawings representing the salient points of the 
story can be placed on the board in colored crayon. As 
the teacher draws the pictures, the children should discuss 
each scene and gain a clear idea of transition from one point 
to the next. Afterwards, each child, pointer in hand, 
should tell the connected story, resting the pointer on each 
drawing until the tale concerning that particular scene is 
finished. Do not be disturbed if there is too little variety 
in the words and devices for transition, but commend those 
pupils who show new methods of transition, and seek to 
arouse invention in this matter. 

Written Composition. — All writing except in the les- 
sons in penmanship should be done on unruled paper with 
a very soft lead pencil. The letters must be large, three- 
fourths of an inch being the minimum height of the one- 
space letters. The words and sentences should be written 
on the board by the teacher in an accurate business hand, 



since these will form the mental copy for the child. The 
child's hand should vary from the vertical toward the stand- 
ard presented in the teacher's copy and the movement 
should be forearm so far as these muscles are yet under 
control. Emphasis should be placed on legibility, not on 
the form of the hand, as the child is yet too young for sys- 
tematic training in the forearm movement for sustained 
writing of entire words. 

The first written exercises should include the copying 
of words and sentences taken from the reading lessons, 
the memory selections and dictation. Through these 
exercises, the use of capitals, period, question mark, apos- 
trophe, and simple abbreviations is learned. Teach the 
children to write their own names, addresses, the days of the 
week, etc. The use of writing as a record for the preserva- 
tion of knowledge should be made clear by its daily use 
in the records of nature study and motor activities. Further, 
constant exercise in written composition is necessary 
throughout the elementary grades to enable the child to 
approach his facility in oral composition; he will never 
attain the facility or skill in structure with the pen or pen- 
cil that he has acquired with the tongue as long as oral 
composition is systematically taught. Oral composition 
should, therefore, precede the exercise in narrative written 
composition, and the theme chosen should always be one 
of interest to the child ; such as an incident at home, some- 
thing about his pets, games, sports, toys, school, etc. Do 
not expect any results in written composition in this grade 
at all comparable with those obtained through oral com- 
position; a few short sentences will be the length of many 
attempts in written composition. 

Spelling. — The causes of poor spelling are many but 
the remedy is one. The written word should be visualized 

6 4 



and its letter content accurately memorized. If the eye- 
sight is defective, the mental vision will be vague or in- 
accurate; if attention is weak or the first impres- 
sion lacks energy, the recalled word form will be 
vague; if the child has lost confidence in the accuracy of 
recollection, he will hesitate and spell with uncertainty. 
To secure effective mental vision, attention must be con- 
centrated on one or on a few words. From six to ten 
words a day should be placed on the blackboard, sounded 
phonetically, used in sentences, copied, studied, and written 
the next day, from memory. In addition, each child should 
collect in a blank book all common words that he has 
misspelled and special exercises in the use of these should 
be provided for him. 

Memory Selections. — Continue the work of the first 
year, review the selections already memorized and select 
others that are worthy. Lists of memory gems appear in 
every educational periodical. The list from which the 
teachers of the Horace Mann School select is given in the 
"Teachers' College Record," Vol. VII; the selections as- 
signed by the State Education Department for New York 
state are listed in the " Course of Study and Syllabus 
for Elementary Schools " for 1910. 

Dramatization. — Dramatization of literature has an 
important place in the second and following grades because, 
(a) it helps the child to understand literature, (b) it leads 
him to love literature, (c) it makes him self-reliant and 
invites initiative, (d) it enables him to discern the connec- 
tion between literature and the life he himself knows, 
(e) it leads him to forget himself and leads children that are 
diffident or retiring to express themselves as they rarely 
do in the formal exercise of reading, (f) it cultivates the 
memory in the recall of text and of appropriate action, 

65 



(g) it cultivates the imagination and exercises the mental 
power of visualization. The dramatization in the second 
grade should be, for the most part, impromptu acting of 
stories and fables. " Cinderella," portions of " Hiawatha," 
parts of " Robinson Crusoe " afford excellent material. 

Scenic accessories should be only such as the schoolroom 
affords. The cloakroom will answer for a costumer's 
shop as make-believe accessories should not be too elaborate. 
The assignments for parts should also partake of the 
impromptu character, should be made, apparently, on the 
spur of the moment, and the representation should be given 
at the opportune moment, with no assigned place in the 
program for the day. 

For suggestions, see "Primary Plans," January, 1910. 
Sara Cone Bryant's " How to Tell Stories to Children," 
Mrs. Bell's " Fairy Tale Plays and How to Act Them," 
Longmans, Green & Co. 

Motor Work. — Grade Two 

Paper Work. — The work in paper and cardboard, this 
term, should develop ability in observation, facility with 
numbers, originality of expression in construction and 
in designing, in color, and in the choice of material. All 
paper work should correlate, first, with number, but also 
with drawing, nature study, and language both oral and 
written. The thought units and the correlation should be 
made clear to the pupils by application and by statement. 
No part of the task should be assigned the pupil without 
some idea of its relation to the whole. An acceptable 
general theme is that of Pastoral Life for which Robinson 
Crusoe affords a fine introduction with many tasks of con- 
struction which fall easily within the range of the child's 
activities. 

66 



The exercises should afford a graded advance in the use 
of measurements for which cardboard rulers marked off 
into inches, half, third and fourth of the inch, should be 
provided. In drawing, practice advances from the ruler 
to the use of the circle marker and finally, before the close of 
the year, to the pencil compass and triangle in more com- 
plicated tasks than the making of right corners as in Grade 
One. The study of form passes from the drawing of square 
corners to the construction of the rectangle, the triangle, 
the circle, and inscribed figures. The finished articles 
present the square, the solid triangle, and the cube. The 
details of manipulation increase in complexity as the child 
gains ability in visualizing and dexterity in manipulation. 
Suggestions as to exercises may be gained from Worst's 
11 Constructive Work," exercises 17 to 36 and 135 to 148, 
omitting 146 and 147. The teacher should plan her work 
to follow the order of increasing difficulty but need not take 
these or other exercises in the order given. 

Sand Work. — The sand box affords the most favorable 
means for treating the larger thought units as wholes. 
If pastoral life is the dominant theme for this year, the 
sand box will present the village, and here all the representa- 
tions of its activities will find place. In shaping the land 
formations in the neighborhood of this village, the erosive 
action of water may be shown, bits of mirror may represent 
bodies of water, the various terms — island, peninsula, etc., 
may be made familiar, and thus an approach to physical 
geography may be gained. The knowledge gleaned through 
walks and study of the landscape can thus be utilized. 

Clay Modeling. — Because of the ease with which it can 
be worked, clay is one of the best mediums for expression 
in art and for the study of solid form that can be used in 
the primary school. Some familiarity with the service of 

67 



fire in the arts may be gained through the baking of clay 
objects. Some notion of the development of the industrial 
arts in social progress can also be imparted through the use 
of clay which is dug from the bank, shaped into bricks 
for building and into jugs and pots for use. 

Prepared clay can be obtained from almost any dealer 
in art and manual training supplies, or it may easily be 
prepared from the crude clay of a neighboring bank. 
To prepare the clay for use, place it in a bag of cotton 
cloth and immerse it in water. After twenty-four hours 
remove the bag from the water and leave it untouched 
until all the water has drained from the clay. Then, 
without taking it from the bag, knead the clay until it 
has the consistency of dough. About five pounds of clay 
will supply a class of thirty-five pupils. When not in use, 
the clay should be stored in a large zinc-lined box or stone 
crock to prevent loss of moisture through evaporation. 

Desks should be covered with newspaper or wrapping 
paper when the clay is in use. Better still, a slate may be 
used as a modeling board which the child can handle easily. 
If the clay is in the right condition, no water will be needed ; 
indeed, it is not advisable to use any water in connection 
with the clay work of the second grade. 

The work in clay modeling should, in large part, be based 
upon the thought unit. If this is taken from pastoral 
life, people, houses, boats, sledges, tents, and animals can 
be modeled. The study of farm life and the training in 
observation can be furthered by modeling. Beets, apples, 
carrots, etc., should be modeled from the objects them- 
selves. These art products should be sun-dried, or baked 
when possible, and preserved on the museum shelves in the 
schoolroom as the property of the child so long as his sense 
of proprietorship in them is keen. 

68 



Cord Work. — Spool knitting is a fascinating and useful 
exercise for a class of this grade. Wool and cotton yarn 
can be used for this purpose. Take an ordinary spool, 
insert four headless brads, an inch long, a half inch into the 
head of the spool. A large pin, darning-needle, or piece 
of stiff wire may be used to carry the yarn over the brads. 
Take the spool in the left hand, and place a loop of yarn 
over each brad, passing the short end of the yarn through 
the spool. Carry the yarn to the left and just above the 
loops which should now be lifted from the brads and allowed 
to fall in the center, the yarn forming new loops. The 
cord is kept even by pulling on the end passing through the 
spool. 

The knitted cord sewed into squares makes a very satis- 
factory mat or cloth for the bath. Strips of cloth may be 
braided and made into rugs and mats for decoration. 
The study of color harmonies will be promoted if the yarn 
and strips are dyed in different colors. Suggestions for 
this work may be found in Tinsley's " Practical and Artistic 
Basketry " ; Worst's " Constructive Work" ; Louisa Walker's 
11 Varied Occupations in Weaving." 

Cord work serves as an introduction to more systematic 
knitting which should be undertaken in the following 
grades. So, paper weaving, which should be undertaken 
late in this year, initiates the child into the mysteries of 
weaving and basketry. The measuring and cutting of 
strips, the selection of colors and the working out of the 
pattern afford an advance exercise in the application 
of knowledge and mental power to the work in hand. Ail 
the colors of the spectrum can be used with safety, but 
shades and tints of these should be avoided. 

Garden Work. — Some of the results sought through 
garden work in Grade Two may be stated as follows: 

69 



(i) The child becomes conscious of a certain degree of 
mastery over the forces of nature, (2) An idea of independ- 
ence is established in the child's mind, (3) The child learns 
through this work in connection with other children les- 
sons in practical ethics, (4) The different nerve centers 
become coordinated through motor activities, (5) A 
right attitude toward manual labor is developed, (6) The 
child comes to recognize his cooperation with the forces 
of nature, (7) The aesthetic sense is cultivated. 

The course of study for garden work should include: 

(1) preparation of the ground, (2) preliminary study by 
the pupils, including plan for the garden, use of tape measure 
or chain, width of walks, size of beds, etc., (3) selection 
and testing of seeds and planting, (4) cultivation, hoeing, 
weeding, thinning, watering. 

The plowing and fertilizing of the plots should be cared 
for by the teacher who should enlist the services of the more 
mature pupils or of parents. Ten light hoes, an equal 
number of small rakes with iron teeth, and of garden 
trowels and watering pots will enable a class of thirty 
pupils to work advantageously. The tools should be kept 
in a dry place where they can be arranged in definite order. 
The pupils should be trained to clean the implements and 
to replace them on their pegs at the close of each period 
of work. 

The preliminary study for the laying out of the garden 
should begin, indoors, about April 1st; it should include a 
plan showing the direction of the walks, their width, and 
also the size of the individual plots. It should include 
a practical application of these lessons by the laying out 
of plots on the schoolroom floor, and should furnish many 

70 



of the practical exercises in number work. The teacher 
should prepare herself by making for her own guidance 
a plan of the proposed garden. The walks should be at least 
three feet wide that the children may pass one another 
easily. They should extend north and south and east and 
west. The individual plots must be of such a width that 
the children can easily reach the middle from the walk; 
about three feet should be the maximum width. The first 
preparatory studies should be of the surveyor's chain or 
the tape line, its length, half its length, etc., and meas- 
urements should be made in the room. When the children 
have become proficient in measuring distances, they should 
determine the length and width of the plot allotted to 
the class and should record these data in their notebooks. 
Next, plan the arrangement of the plots and walks. Each 
child should have a plot for his own cultivation. When 
the size of this plot has been determined, each child should 
make in his notebook a sketch of the shape of the plot 
with the dimensions marked upon it. If possible, these 
sketches should be drawn to a scale. After the size of the 
plots has been determined, the children may draw off 
on the floor a space equal to the individual plots to establish 
its corners. All of this work should be conducted with 
particular emphasis upon drawing and number. 

The first work out of doors should be the laying out of 
the garden. To avoid friction and waste of time, the chil- 
dren should work in groups of four, one child with mallet, 
one with stakes, two children with chain or tape. It 
may be advisable to call upon members of the fourth grade 
to assist the smaller children. Each child should be pro- 
vided with four stakes to mark the corners of his plot. The 
members of the fourth grade can supply these stakes by 
sawing a lath into three parts which should then be sharp- 

71 



ened. The stakes should be driven firmly into the ground 
and the name of the owner of the plot printed upon them 
or upon a piece of bristol-board which is then tacked to each 
stake. 

Now, two children, working together, can stretch the 
cord and draw the lines for the drills with which the seeds 
are planted. The seeds should be selected, as far as pos- 
sible, from those collected in the fall for this purpose. 
The children should be allowed freedom of selection but 
the teacher's suggestion will lead them to choose seeds which 
germinate quickly and grow rapidly. 

The testing of seeds should have been done indoors, 
beginning as early as the middle of February. The germina- 
tion may be carried on between folds of moistened blotting- 
paper, but is better done if the seeds are placed in fine 
moist sand in shallow boxes. The box may be divided into 
squares by strings stretched from side to side and from 
end to end. If this is done, each pupil should keep a re- 
cord of the number of seeds planted in each square and the 
number which germinate. 

In planting, suggest that those seeds which produce the 
most luxuriant growth be placed in the middle rows and 
those of less height nearer the borders. Seed catalogs 
contain valuable directions for the planting of most seeds 
and suggestions for the cultivation of the plants. Markers 
should be placed at the ends of each row to show the kind 
of seed it contains and a plot showing the order of the rows 
should be entered in the notebook. 

When the plants appear, the children should be taught 
to hoe, weed, thin, and water them. Notebooks should 
contain a continuous record of all that is done. Observa- 
tions should be entered concerning the peculiarities and 
the comparative growth of different plants that the habit 

72 



of comparative observation may be cultivated. These 
notebooks should form an important part of the work in 
written composition and should frequently be inspected 
and criticised. 

The teacher should cooperate with the mothers in securing 
aprons and overalls for the protection of clothing. In 
many schools, the mothers could supply the cloth and the 
girls of higher grades do the cutting and sewing. The 
organized school should be encouraged to meet by mutual 
labors as many of its needs as possible. 

Correlate the garden work with drawing, number, 
oral and written English, clay modeling, nature study, 
and seek through seed catalogs, etc., to train in the getting 
of information through consultation of the printed page. 



Number Work. — Grade Two 

The exercises with number in the second grade are to be 
related as far as possible with the child's immediate needs 
and interests. The garden work, motor activities and nature 
study, as well as many incidents of daily life, call for some 
knowledge of number. Most of the drill work for facility 
and accuracy is left till the third year; a small amount, 
made interesting through games and various devices, is 
given in the second grade. Constant repetition is neces- 
sary for sure possession and facility. The following out- 
line gives the subject matter that the pupil should pos- 
sess by the close of the year but does not offer any order 
of presentation: 

Counting. — By i's and 5's and io's to ioo; by 3's to 
30; by 4's to 40; within the space I to 20 by other numbers 
as used in the addition table. 

73 



Writing of Numbers. — Place value of units, tens, and 
hundreds; numbers written to iooo. 

Measurements. — Inch, half-inch, foot, yard; dollar, 
half-dollar, quarter-dollar; pint, quart, gallon; minute, 
hour, day, week, month; reading time by the clock; writing 
the date, e. g. Wednesday, April 16, 1910. 

Written Addition and Subtraction of numbers in three 
orders, sum of no column to exceed nine; subtraction 
without borrowing or by Austrian method. 

Fractions. — Halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, sev- 
enths, eighths, but no fractions except unit fractions. 

Multiplication. — Tables of twos, threes, fours, and fives. 

Symbols. +, — , =, X. 

Exercises in number should be subsidiary to other activi- 
ties wherever possible, and where problems are given 
for their own sake they should be correlated with other 
activities, e. g. " Mabel was washing towels. She hung 
ten upon the line to dry. The sun shone brightly and soon 
six were dry and Mabel brought them in. How many 
remained on the line? Draw the line and make a picture 
of the towels left on the line, cut oblongs of white paper 
with a fringe at each end and place a border in colored 
crayon above each fringe such as you think the dry towels 
had and fold these paper towels nicely as Mabel folded the 
towels." 

The exercises in paper cutting and folding give oppor- 
tunity for an advance in number work, e.g. Worst's " Con- 
struction Work " extends the number space in exercises 
25 to 49 with presentation of fraction one-seventh. In 
preparing for garden work, number is taught by the meas- 
uring tape. Through handling the tape, the children 
become familiar with its markings, learn the number of 

74 



feet in its length, in half its length, in one quarter the length, 
etc. They are made proficient in its use by measuring dis- 
tances in the schoolroom. By laying out the garden 
plots, they learn about area, perimeter, the tables of 
twos, threes, fours, sixes, and drawing to scale. 

The games of the second year can be so conducted that 
they will become a means of much drill in the handling 
of number. One of the best of these games is described 
in Smith's " Primary Arithmetic." Cut holes in a card- 
board box and number the holes. Select two children to 
drop marbles into these holes from the height of a table, 
and one to announce the points made. Let the rest of the 
class keep the score and announce the result in this way: 
Helen has 15 points and Charles has 7, so Helen won by 
eight points. The game keeps every child at work and 
encourages rapidity and accuracy as those who are ready 
first become the next players. 

A textbook in arithmetic may be introduced during the 
second half-year, but it should be used to supplement 
the number work that grows out of the motor activities 
and the nature study. 

Nature Study. — Grade Two 

Nature study in the second grade should continue 
the work done in the first grade. Strive to increase the 
child's sympathy with nature and to develop an idea of 
the cyclic changes in life, water, and the round of the sea- 
sons. The success of the work will depend largely upon 
the teacher's adherence to the ends in view and the enthu- 
siasm with which she directs the study. Organization of 
the subject matter into a coherent body is the keynote 
to success in nature teaching. A few subjects should be 

75 



studied as types and all others grouped around these; 
avoid unsystematic observations, and keep the work within 
the comprehension of the pupils. 

Carefully planned field lessons should play an important 
part in the teacher's plan of instruction. The field lesson 
affords an opportunity for studying the subject in its 
natural surroundings and for providing material for sub- 
sequent lessons in the schoolroom. The most important 
lessons, however, will be those in the schoolroom based 
upon the material collected during the field lessons. 

All lessons in nature study should be addressed to the 
intelligence of the pupil, rather than to his memory. Com- 
parison and interpretation of observations should form the 
greater part of each exercise. All technical terms and names 
should be taught incidentally as a means to an end, not 
for any value they may possess in themselves. 

Window boxes for the cultivation of plants, and vessels 
in which to keep fishes, tadpoles, and other forms of aquatic 
life should be part of the equipment of each schoolroom. 
Battery jars form convenient aquaria; they are easily 
handled and cleaned, and allow the changing of their con- 
tents from one jar to another as occasion demands. In- 
expensive, insect cages should be provided. Such cages 
can be made from boxes having holes in the sides to admit 
the air, the holes and top being covered with wire netting. 
The apparatus used in collecting moths, butterflies, etc., 
should belong to the school. All of these objects, if kept 
and cared for in a businesslike way, aid in connecting 
school tasks with the realities of life. 

In the care of apparatus and in manifold other ways, a 
spirit of helpfulness can be cultivated. Teach the children 
to care for the plants and animals which form part of the 
equipment of the schoolroom, not as a sporadic task, 

76 



but as a duty assumed with the responsibility for its dis- 
charge. This cooperation is not primarily to lessen the 
teacher's burdens but for the development of the child. 
In the care of plants and the feeding of animals, sympathy 
for all forms of life will grow and the recognition that the 
care-taker is but aiding some unseen power and furthering 
the mysterious processes of growth. 

The Content of Nature Study. — The course in nature 
study should include: (i) study of the plant as a whole, 
as parts, and the cyclic development of seed, plant, flower, 
fruit; (2) study of animals including one or more from 
(a) bird, (b) mammal, (c) insect world. These should be 
studied as wholes and as parts, as cyclic; for the bird, in egg, 
young, adult; for the insect, in egg t larva, worm, chrysalis, 
imago. (3) The study of water and air should reveal their 
energy and life-sustaining function. Water should be stud- 
ied in its cyclic transformations, as rain, stream, lake, 
vapor, and for its function in sustaining life in plant, 
beast, and man. The subjects should be treated as 
parallel studies, and not taken in any order of succession. 

Plant Study. — The study of plants should be organized 
with reference to the following topics: (1) natural sur- 
roundings; (2) organs, their structure, functions, and 
mutual dependence; (3) comparative study of different 
plants; (4) relation to man and the lower animals. 

The first lessons may be based upon the wild aster which 
can be found in bloom in September and October. 

Lesson 1. Preliminary. Several days before any defi- 
nite instruction is to be given, direct the pupils to observe 
the plant and to report where it grows, its size, color of 
flowers, etc. 

Lesson 2. Preparation for field lesson. Gather up what 

77 



the children have learned by themselves, and prepare them 
for more definite observations. 

Lesson j. Field lesson. Lead the children to make 
definite observations upon the effect of environment 
on the development and life habits of the plant. 

Lessons 4, 5, 6, 7. Structure, function, and adapta- 
tion of flowers, leaves, stem, and roots. 

These last lessons should be comparative and based 
upon the dandelion or buttercup which was studied early 
in the preceding year. Each child should be provided with 
specimens of the plants with which comparison is made. 
Train the child to detect points of similarity and differ- 
ence. Correlate with sand work, clay modeling, drawing, 
number, literature, and oral composition. 

The fall work should include the study of some climb- 
ing and creeping plants, such as woodbine, wild clematis, 
nasturtium, cucumber, squash, etc. Seek to develop the 
idea of adaptation of the organs of the plant to its needs 
by a study of tendrils on climbers. Observe the effects 
of frost on plant life and correlate with the study of water. 

Fruits. — Make a comparative study of fruits common 
to the locality of the school, include the study of form, 
size, color, and relation to man and to other forms of life, 
correlate with drawing in sand, clay modeling, number, 
story work, and oral composition. The apple may be used 
as the type around which the other fruits are to be grouped. 
Show the injurious effects of insects and parasitic plants. 

Seeds. — Encourage the children to collect seeds for the 
comparative study of form, size, structure, etc. These 
individual collections should be kept in seed envelopes 
and seed boxes made by the pupil, thus affording corre- 
lation with motor work. Correlate with other school 
activities whenever possible. 

78 



Buds. — The study of buds should begin late in the winter 
and should be continued into the spring. The work 
can easily be conducted by observations upon twigs of 
willow, elder, birch, etc., placed in a vessel of water standing 
in a warm place. Plan the work to show that some buds 
contain leaves, that others develop flowers and that others 
will produce stems and branches of plants. A few flowering 
plants, carnations, geraniums, etc., will do much to establish 
the idea that buds are the parts from which flowers develop. 
A potato or a dahlia bulb may be allowed to sprout to show 
that stems develop from buds. Show that the structure 
of the bud is such that its outer parts protect the inner 
portions. Correlate with clay modeling, drawing, oral 
composition, and literature. 

Roots. — The study of roots should be confined to ob- 
servations made when the plant is studied as a whole. 
Only the marked varieties of roots, such as the tap root, 
and the manner of branching should receive attention; 
these points may often be studied to best advantage in 
connection with clay modeling. 

Leaves. — In the fall, the children should collect leaves, 
mount them upon cards upon which they should print the 
name of the species of leaf. The leaves may also be placed 
on paper, their outlines traced, and the spaces then colored. 

Stems. — The child's knowledge of stems should be 
gained by a study of the plant as a whole and through 
clay modeling and color work. 

Animal Study. — Seek through animal study to de- 
velop observation, a higher regard for life, and to gain 
material for written and oral composition. Through the 
care of animal life, teach responsibility for the regular 
discharge of duties connected with the feeding and care 
of living things. The observation lessons should cover the 

79 



following points: (i) home life, (2) structure, (3) habits, 
(4) relation to plant life, (5) relation to animal life, (6) life 
history. 

Follow the methods of instruction outlined in the first 
grade. The dog or rabbit may be used as the subject 
of the first series of lessons. Discussions should invite 
comparison of new with known objects, the cat studied in 
the earlier grade being the leading object of comparison. 
Correlate with the other branches of school work. 

Train the children to watch the animal and to make 
written records of its actions. The results will be crude 
at first and will consist of short, disconnected sentences, 
but these direct statements will teach the child the value 
of the sentence close. These reports will be similar to 
the entries in the diary of garden work in the spring. 

Birds. — The bird study of the second year should be 
done chiefly in the second semester. The dominant idea 
should be the study of the life history of the bird. A par- 
ticular bird or kind of bird should be selected by each 
child for special observation. When the birds first arrive 
in the spring, the children should be encouraged to look for 
their nesting places. The robin and the sparrow are good 
objects for study and their nests are easily found. When 
a nest has been found, a series of observations should be 
undertaken with care that the parent birds may be disturbed 
as little as possible. As the observations proceed, the chil- 
dren should note the hatching of the fledgling, its subsequent 
growth, development, its helplessness, the kind of food it 
requires, etc. The study of the young bird should reveal 
its dependence upon the parent bird, and the parent bird's 
effort to draw attention from the offspring to itself. Dis- 
cussions of the observation lessons should emphasize 
the points of similarity in the growth and development 

80 



of the young bird and of the human babe. They should 
also strengthen the appreciation of the child for all forms 
of life. 

Correlate with color work, sand work, oral and written 
composition, clay modeling, elementary weaving with 
paper and twigs or raffia, and literature. Interest the chil- 
dren in keeping a bird calendar on which should be re- 
corded the date of observation, the name of the observer, 
and possibly some characteristic of the bird that is par- 
ticularly noticeable. For suggestions, see Hodge's " Nature 
Study and Life." 

Insects. — Few insects are better adapted for the study 
of structure than the grasshopper. Besides observations 
in the field, there should be definite study of the grass- 
hopper in the schoolroom. For this purpose, a few of the 
insects should be confined in a breeding cage improvised 
for the purpose. Make four frames with light slats, cover 
them with fly-netting, tack them together and cover the 
top with a piece of netting. Set this frame over a box 
filled with pieces of turf bearing long and short grasses. 
Such a cage will permit the circulation of air which is 
necessary for the life of the grasshopper. 

The study of the grasshopper should cover the follow- 
ing topics: (i) general description, (2) study of the organs 
with attention to function, (3) respiration, (4) movements, 
(5) food, (6) relation to plant life. 

The caterpillar is also a favorable subject for study. 
The first lessons should be conducted in the field and should 
cover in a general way, appearance, structure, movements, 
food, and life habits, Insects should be secured for school- 
room study; these should be kept in fruit jars covered with 
netting, or, better, in a box with at least two sides of wire 
netting to allow the circulation of air. Keep the insects 

81 



well supplied with food. In general, each species should 
be supplied with the plant upon which it was found feed- 
ing. 

Study the caterpillar's manner of feeding. When it 
begins to spin threads examine it with a magnifying glass. 
Notice that the caterpillar grows so fast that his skin 
soon becomes too small for him and that it finally splits 
along the back and a stout, green body appears within. 
The shedding of the skin will occur several times. Finally, 
the insect will become restless and will fasten himself to 
the top of his cage. 

Tie a string around the stem by which the chrysalis is 
suspended and hang it where it can be seen but not touched. 
Examine the chrysalis from day to day until it bursts and 
the butterfly or moth comes out. The length of time re- 
quired for these transformations will depend upon the 
species studied. The caterpillar that feeds upon the leaves 
of cabbage, if fed well, will grow rapidly and is likely to 
form its chrysalis in the breeding cage. The chrysalis can 
also be found under stones and attached to fences near 
cabbage patches infested with worms. Caterpillars found 
in August and September may develop into small but- 
terflies with white and yellowish wings spotted with 
black. 

The teacher should not depend wholly upon butterflies 
developed in the schoolroom. Some specimens should be 
captured in the fall and placed in the breeding cages where 
their habits can be studied. 

In the spring it may be possible to study the life history 
of the potato beetle. Secure some potato leaves that bear 
a colony of eggs and place them where they can be 
watched from day to day. When the larvae have ap- 
peared, provide fresh leaves upon which they can feed. 

82 



Watch the growth of larvae and their subsequent change 
to beetles. 

Observation upon a colony of ants will amply repay 
the trouble of preparation. The ant-hill or ant nest can 
be made with almost no expense. A wash-basin can be 
filled partly full of water and in this a brick may be placed, 
or an inverted basin, to form an island. Upon this island, 
two pieces of glass, — old negatives will do, — should be 
placed and separated by the ends of four burnt matches, 
a chamber being thus formed just high enough for the com- 
fort of ants. A piece of board or of blotting-paper should 
be placed over this to exclude the light. By lifting this 
cover, one may watch the ants through the glass top of 
the nest. Go afield with a tin can and a garden trowel 
and search under stones in an old pasture. When a colony 
has been found transfer some of the earth, larvae, and 
workers to the jar and pour this on the island close to 
the glass plates. The workers will transfer the larvae 
to the space concealed. The food should be varied and 
should be placed on the island near the nest, that refuse 
may easily be cleared away. Crackers, bread soaked in 
sweetened water, sponge cake, berry jam, bits of raw 
meat, or yolks of hard-boiled eggs are acceptable, but 
all food should be soft and moist though not in a fluid 
state. 

Correlate with drawing, clay modeling, oral and written 
composition. For helpful suggestions, see "The Chautau- 
quan," Vol. 38, p. 175; Howard's "The Insect Book," 
his "The Butterfly Book," or his "The Moth Book." 
Literature correlated with nature study can be found easily. 
An extensive bibliography is given in " Course of Study 
and Syllabus for Elementary Schools," 1910, Albany, N. Y., 
issued by the State Education Department. 

83 



Water. — The study of water for this grade will divide 
as follows: 

(i) Forms of Water. — Review the experimental work 
done in the first grade. Observe the cloud of vapor which 
rises from the land after a warm rain, or from the surface 
of a body of water in the winter. Show experimentally 
that cold is a cause of rainfall. 

(2) Rainfall. — Notice the falling of raindrops and the 
effect of wind upon their direction and force. Show that 
rain sinks into the earth and forms pools, streams, springs, 
etc. 

(3) Transportation by Water. — Observe the transpor- 
tation of material by water after a storm. Notice the 
kind of material carried by a stream, examine the places 
where the stream has overflowed and deposited sedi- 
ment. If no stream is convenient, the study of rivulets 
formed by the rain will teach the children that running 
water washes soil to lower levels and deposits it there. 

(4) Water and Soil Formation. — An understanding of 
the formation of bodies of earth or of their modification 
through the agency of water is an introduction to the 
study of physical geography and of the preparation of garden 
soil. Bring to the school pieces of rock that have been satu- 
rated with water, show that such rock, when acted upon 
by frost, crumbles into small particles. Show on some 
beach how the rock is worn to fineness by the pounding 
of the waves. In some railroad cut, point out the different 
layers as deposited by water, explain why the top soil 
is darker in color than the lower layers. 

Air. — Confine the study of the atmosphere to the evi- 
dences of its power, showing how it can turn windmills, 
propel ships, etc. Correlate with paper work in the manu- 

84 



facture of windmills, kites, boats. Prepare for the study 
of transportation and travel in the next year. 

Art Study. — Grade Two 

The work in art divides into (a) work that calls for the 
exercise of judgment and personal feeling as to arrange- 
ment and color — simple patterns with application, pic- 
torial drawings of flowers, trees, houses, etc.; (b) designs, 
drawings, or pictures related to other work in the course; 
(c) drawing and painting from nature. 

By color work the imaginative and creative powers are 
trained, the child is led to observe and investigate for him- 
self and to express graphically the impressions he has 
gained through his experience and study of the forms around 
him. By arrangement, the child learns that rhythm can 
be expressed not only by movement and music, but also 
by lines and spots of color. 

A soft-marking crayon is the most satisfactory medium 
of expression for Grade Two, but water colors and char- 
coal pencils can be used with good results. A few colors 
chosen from the middle of the chromatic scale will produce 
the best results in the study of color harmony, for by this 
choice all danger of producing glaring contrasts will be 
avoided. The paper used should have a smooth, unsized 
surface of rather close texture. The size of the sheet 
used will depend upon the nature of the object represented; 
6x9 and 9 x 12 are the best sizes for general purposes. 

A systematic plan for the distribution and collection of 
material should be followed. Pupils must acquire the habit 
of care in the use of water colors, charcoal, colored crayons, 
etc. If water colors are used, each child should have 
a piece of cloth for cleaning his water pan and color box. 

85 



The brush should never be used for this purpose; this should 
be washed and shaken out on the cloth — not wiped — 
and left to dry. 

The objects selected for study should have a simple 
form with large unbroken masses of color. Objects must 
be so placed that all can see them well; small objects 
such as vegetables, fruits, grasses, sprays of leaves, etc., 
should be placed on each desk. These will remain in posi- 
tion if a small lump of clay is molded around the stem. 
Large bodies, such as pumpkins, squashes, etc., can be 
placed on boards across the aisles where several can use 
the same specimen. Work in illustration should be given 
as picture writing but also as arrangement for masses of 
light and dark, and for color harmony. Pictures cut from 
papers may be placed on the background or landscape. 

The drawings made by the children should be large and 
executed in a rapid, free-hand movement. The blackboard 
will be serviceable in teaching freedom of movement and 
in overcoming a tendency to make small drawings. The side 
of the crayon can often be used in covering surfaces. Small 
blackboards are often placed in sockets upon the desks 
in the schools of England, for exercises in penmanship and 
drawing. 

Nature study, English, and incidents from daily life 
will furnish innumerable subjects for color work. Grasses, 
flowers, leaves, vegetables, trees, landscapes, silhouettes 
of children and animals, representations of scenes from 
dramatized stories and games; all can be used as material 
for the use of color. Simple pictures should be supplied 
for study, reproductions of work by Bontet de Monvel, 
R. Anning Bell, Nicholson, Carton Moore Parke, Jessie 
Wilcox Smith, Kate Greenaway, Walter Crane, Elizabeth 
Shippen Green, Millet, Landseer, Rosa Bonheur, Madam 

86 



Bonner, Eugene Lambert, John Swan, and certain Ma- 
donnas and Japanese prints, are used in the Horace Mann 
School. Copy parts of these for action, color, and 
construction. 

Lead the children to study action through line drawings 
of figures representing different activities in child and ani- 
mal life, and, whenever possible, permit the children to 
act out their ideas. Afterwards, bring in charts of children 
in action and permit the children to correct their drawings 
by these. 

Teach the children to make simple borders by repeating 
lines, spots, simple geometric and plant forms as units. 
At first, rhythmical borders of straight lines, then simple 
bands on articles made, the child choosing the number 
of bands, the spacing of them, and the colors. Afterwards, 
borders of flowers, trees, animals, and figures can be placed 
on Christmas cards, calendars, valentines, candy boxes, 
etc. Teach the terms, — unit, repetition, border. Paper 
applique is the best material to make the child's idea clear 
to himself. This work is graded in the Horace Mann 
School as follows: 

First. — Straight line border in two harmonious colors, 
one light, one dark. 

Second. — A border of flowers, three colors, one for back- 
ground, one for stem and leaves, one for flowers. 

Third. — A large border, each child taking a panel. 

Penmanship. — Grade Two 

The formal training in penmanship in the second grade 
should not occupy over fifteen minutes a day and should 
be restricted to free arm movements on ovals and on the 
letters of simpler construction; the accessory muscles are 

87 



as yet too weak for continued exercise or for any exercises 
that involve controlled action by muscles of latest develop- 
ment. The natural slant of letters will approximate more 
nearly the slant of the approved commercial hand than in 
the preceding year. Correct position and correct holding 
of the pencil should now be insisted upon and supervised 
so closely that the habit of correct position will be firmly 
established; this result cannot be secured in any fifteen 
minutes a day, hence the teacher must maintain a vigilant 
oversight of all note-taking. No notes should be written 
standing or in any offhand fashion; provision should be 
made that the child, whether writing out of doors or in, 
shall be properly seated and shall write his best. Pen 
and ink should not be used earlier than the third grade. 
The mental copy of the word must be the teacher's 
copy, not the child's written word, hence all formal exer- 
cises should be written first on the board by the teacher and 
such copies should remain in sight that the eye may 
become accustomed to the correct form. 

Music. — Grade Two 

Through the teaching of music in the Second Grade, 
the sense of rhythm should be developed, and the ear, 
voice, and musical ability of the child cultivated. A quick- 
ening of love and desire for the best in music through the 
use of good, wholesome songs is more important than a 
knowledge of musical notation. The songs selected should 
have something to tell, the music should interpret the 
text, and the rhythm should be in harmony with the thought 
conveyed. 

The range of tone is a matter of great importance. 
Children should not test severely the vocal cords but 



develop the head tones before the change in voice. Songs 
should be written between middle C and upper E or F 
for the use of children, and the quality of tone should be 
closely observed. 

Motion songs should be employed, partly because they 
give interest, partly to habituate the child to rhythmical 
movements which are the bases of the graceful poise of cul- 
ture. These songs, however, divert attention from the 
quality of tone and often invite objectionable tones; hence 
must be used with caution. Patriotic songs also lead to 
poor tone, as shouting is often the child's sign of enthu- 
siasm. The child should be led to appreciate the quiet 
intensity of controlled tone, as an index of high emotion 
more effective than loud or noisy demonstration. 

In the Horace Mann School, the songs selected for the 
early part of the year are associated with vacation ex- 
periences and with the pastoral life which is the thought 
unit of the year. They include: " Falling Leaves," 
Neidlinger; " Nature's Good-By," Hill; " Harvest Song," 
Smith; " Jack Frost," Neidlinger; " Snowflake," Gaynor; 
" Christmas at the Door," Smith; " Away in a 
Manger," Hofer; " Christmas Carols," Gaynor; " Janu- 
ary," Knowlton; " What Robin Told," and " Dandelion," 
Knowlton; " Caterpillar," Neidlinger; " Song of the 
Shearers," Gaynor. From the shepherd's life, " Hare 
and Hounds," " Run, Sheep, Run," " Song of the Wool," 
Miss Hill; " Spin, Lassie, Spin," Reinicke. For patriotic 
songs, " For Peace and for Plenty," Knowlton; " Flag 
Song," Gaynor; with others are used. 

Scale songs will exercise the power to think and to analyze, 
such as " Down Come the Autumn Leaves Whirling 
Around "; " Up Goes My Pretty Kite in the Blue Sky," 
on which as themes the teacher can introduce such varia- 

89 



tions as the class may be prepared to appreciate. The 
children should note what gives expression — the accent, 
grouping, length of notes, high and low, and picture the 
movement on the blackboard. The teacher would be wise 
to read the "Teachers' College Record," Vol. VII, for sug- 
gestions in building up the child's understanding of music, 
but the following brief notes may be useful : 

First. — Ask whether the tune tells the same story as the 
words, Neidlinger's " Tick-Tack," for example. 

Second. — Study the relation of accented to unaccented 
tones. Use for this purpose complete musical passages 
or phrases. Let the children mark the accent by walking or 
by hand movements, then write large circles for accented 
tones and small for unaccented ones; place a vertical line 
before each large circle to divide into measures. Take 
up the Mother Goose jingles, let the children discover 
three kinds of duration in these, place dashes over circles 
to indicate relative time, lines over measures to indicate 
equal time; this gives a rhythmic picture. Later, eighth 
notes may be placed over dashes for quick time and half 
notes over long notes. 

Third. — Teach high and low notes, first, by raising and 
lowering the hands, then by dashes placed high and low, 
then lines may be introduced and tones placed on lines 
and spaces. The children can now learn that doh, me, 
soh, will all come on lines or on spaces; this gives the group- 
ing by thirds. Toward the end of the year, regular nota- 
tion should displace picture notation. 

There should be practice in making songs, first, the words 
for a song, then the tune. This song-making should be 
associated with occupations. 



90 



Physical Training. — Grade Two 
Plays and Games.— A clear understanding of the nature 
of play is of the highest importance for teachers. The 
fundamental difference between free play and controlled 
play, or games, should be kept in mind and adequate 
provision made for both. The instinct for play is nature's 
means for securing the necessary exercise for all the muscles, 
particularly for the fundamental muscles, of the body! 
Exercise begins as free play, reflex activity, and continues 
as voluntary but unorganized activity. As it is, at first, 
without effort for control, it is without nervous tension, 
indeed, relieves the nervous system of tensions due to super- 
abundance of energy in unexercised cells. With controlled 
action comes tension, but in games this tension is confined 
to cells that in ordinary school occupations have lacked 
due exercise and, therefore, is desirable if kept within 
due limits. 

Games, however, serve other purposes in the develop- 
ment of the child as important as that of exercise, if they 
are rightly conducted. Through games, shyness is counter- 
acted, sociability is developed, observation stimulated. 
Their social value is of the highest significance; they arouse 
a feeling of common interest, lead to a keen but friendly 
rivalry, train in team work with one's comrades, in willing 
obedience to rules that are for the common good. They 
promote respiration, circulation of the blood, and develop 
quickness of reaction; they teach self-control, self-sacrifice, 
honesty, and honor. 

In Grade Two, the child passes from free play that is 
the product of momentary impulse to imitated actions 
which rise to games or to the setting forth of some idea in 
supposed action. Games for this grade must be very 
simple; the fewer the rules the better; spontaneity should 



OI 



be the guiding principle and, therefore, the teacher's 
suggestion should follow the child's initiative. The child 
naturally uses the knowledge he has assimilated in his 
plays, hence the teacher can lead him to correlate his games 
with other school activities. Many of the games may 
directly strengthen his use of number through the keeping 
of the score. Further, the games should lead to the ex- 
ercise of fundamental muscles; these are not always the 
larger muscles but are those already well developed. 

Among the games that may be used in this grade are: 
the various games of tag, folk dances, marching exercises, 
dominoes, tossing of bean bags, playing store, dramatic 
expression, beater goes round, hare and hounds, basket- 
ball, follow the leader, crossing the brook. 

Gymnastic Training. — All children in this grade 
should be tested for sight, hearing, nervous control, mus- 
cular action, throat and nose, heart and lungs, spine and 
feet. Simple corrective exercises should be given where the 
defect is slight; for serious defects, scientific treatment 
by a specialist through corrective gymnastics should be 
provided. Besides the frequent periods for relaxation and 
free play, each child should spend twenty minutes each day 
in the gymnasium with a special teacher. Gymnastic 
exercises should consist of — marching, skipping, running, 
dancing, combination steps ; the floor work should be carried 
out with and without the word of command and include 
arm and leg movements, trunk movements, jumps, etc., 
the apparatus used should include hand apparatus, bells 
and balls, and heavy apparatus, such as jump standards, 
stall-bars, horizontal ladder, ropes, boom, giant stride. 



92 



CHAPTER IV- GRADE THREE 



PROGRAM FOR GRADE III 



FORMAL STUDIES 
Forenoon 
Hours 



MOTOR SUBJECTS 



9.00- 9.10 
9.10- 9.20 

9.20- 9.40 

9.40-10.00 

10.00-10.08 

10.08-10. 14 
10.14-10.34 



10.34-10.54 
10.54-11.02 
1 1. 02-1 1.22 



1 1. 22-1 1.42 

1 1. 42-1 1.57 
n-57 



Groups 
A B 



Music (song), recitation in chorus, 10 
Demonstration and Drawing for 

Paper Work, 10 

Arithmetic and Form, 20 

Paper Work, 
Arithmetic and Form, 
Paper Work, 
Gymnastics and Development 

exercises, 8 

Luncheon, 6 

Phonics and Reading for two 

motor groups, each ten minutes, 20 

Weaving, or Pottery, or Sewing, . . 
Music (new songs) etc., 20 

Recess, Free Play, 8 

Phonics and Reading for two 

motor groups, each ten minutes, 20 

Weaving, or Pottery, or Sewing, . . 
Phonics and Reading for two 

motor groups, each ten minutes, . . 
Weaving, or Pottery, or Sewing, . . 
Memory Selections, or Games, or 

Dramatization, 
Dismissal. 



10 



20 



20 

8 



20 



Groups 
A B 

1,2,3 4,5,6 



20 



20 



20 



20 



15 15 



94 



FORMAL STUDIES 
Afternoon 
Hours 



MOTOR SUBJECTS 



Groups 
A B 



Groups 
A B 



1.30- 1.40 

1.40- 2.00 
2.00- 2.20 



2.20- 2.40 

2.40- 3.00 

3.00- 3.10 
3.10- 3.16 
3.16- 3.31 

3.31- 3-43 
3.43- 4.00 

4.00 



10 
20 



Roll checked, Individual Memory 
Selections, 10 

Geography, 20 

Oral Composition, by individual 
recitation, 

Written Composition, 

Nature Study, 20 

Tile Work, . . 

Nature Study, . . 20 

Tile Work, 

Recess, Free Play, 

Luncheon, 

Art (Color and Drawing), 

Reading, by Teacher, 

Gardening, or Relief Work in 

Geography with sand, 17 17 

Dismissal, except for those who 
volunteer to continue for half 
an hour or more in gardening 
or relief work. 



1,2,3 4,5,6 



20 



10 


10 


6 


6 


15 


15 


12 


12 



20 



95 



COMMENTS UPON THE PROGRAM FOR 
GRADE III 

The teacher's service in the guidance of Paper Work 

in Grade III becomes more nearly that of supervision than 
in the earlier grades. The pupils no longer rely to so great 
a degree upon imitation: in many instances they can now 
examine the completed article to determine the method 
of construction, or may study a description or drawing with 
some intelligence. The teacher should encourage her class 
to interpret such directions for themselves and should, 
henceforth, perform the operation herself only when the 
pupil has failed to understand without such guidance. 

The range of data in arithmetic grows apace as the class 
advances, and calculations or estimates are continually 
called for in the designing of decoration in weaving, or in 
nature study, in relief work, and in gardening. The spe- 
cial tasks for the period given to arithmetic are intended 
to impart facility and to secure accuracy in operations 
which have arisen in connection with constructive work. 

The studies in form presented in the drawings for 
constructive projects are all to measure and involve con- 
siderable computation as well as experimental knowledge 
of many laws of geometry. These tasks are approaching 
the dignity of mechanical drawings; are, indeed, working 
drawings, and will in the fourth grade conform to all the 
requirements of mechanical drawings by the adoption of 
drawings to scale and the use of the draftsman's kinds 
of line. 

Great emphasis is placed upon reading in this grade 
because, in the fourth grade, books treating of geography 
and travels, historical biographies and books in nature 
study will play an important part in instruction. It is 

96 






important that the pupil shall be prepared to gather thought 
from the printed page with little difficulty. The use of the 
motor group in reading instead of the class group re- 
leases the larger number of pupils, from the comparatively- 
profitless task of listening, for motor exercises, while the 
ten or twelve pupils of the motor groups called for the read- 
ing exercise constitute a sufficient audience for the reader. 
With twenty minutes for ten children, the teacher is able 
to give more individual attention to each than would be 
possible with half her class in session, unless the period 
were made unduly long. The interruption for Music 
and Recess is desirable as a relief for both pupils and 
teacher. 

Motor exercises occupy the most of the forenoon for 
each pupil; forty minutes for weaving, pottery, and sew- 
ing, besides twenty minutes for the paper work. Since 
forty minutes is too long a period for children of this grade 
to devote to one motor exercise, the three subjects are 
so grouped that an interchange may be made, as may seem 
desirable. The child that is weaving may leave his task 
at an advantageous point for the building of a bowl or for 
the drawing of the plan and decoration for his next task 
either in weaving or in pottery, or sewing may be sub- 
stituted by the girls for either task. An assistant should 
have the immediate oversight of the exercises in weaving, 
basketry, sewing, and clay work in the fourth grade, and 
should be present and supervise these tasks in the third 
grade also. With such a field for choice of occupation, 
children need the steadying presence of, and also suggestion 
from, some older person that they may plan for themselves 
an economical ordering of their time and may apply them- 
selves most effectively. Their use of time and their tasks 
should not be planned for them, as self-control and self- 

97 



direction are all important, but suggestion quickens 
insight and initiative. 

The study of geography, as shown in the syllabus, 
begins with the neighborhood. The data necessary for 
map drawing and for discussion should, for the most part, 
be collected on the spot. Field work is necessary for both 
geography and nature study, and the data obtained should 
form the content for oral composition; hence, the hour 
from two to three should often be spent out of the school- 
room. 

The sand-box is no longer so prominent in the work 
of the class as in the lower grades but furnishes aid, here, 
in the study of geography. Late in the year, maps and 
relief work may be reduced to scale; an inch may stand 
for a linear foot in the one and broom corn straws broken 
at the inch may represent the foot in height, and guide in 
the shaping of hills and valleys. 

With the orderly activities of this year, there is no need 
that the school day should close at four. In good weather, 
an additional half-hour might well be spent in gardening 
or in games, and the teacher should be in attendance 
Saturday afternoons to guide all who wish to engage 
either in gardening or in games. There is no reason why, 
in a school of this character, the hours of the teacher's 
service, with reasonable increase in salary, should not 
approximate those required in other fields of labor. 

SYLLABUS FOR GRADE THREE 
English. — Grade Three 

Phonic Exercises. — A few minutes each day should be 
devoted to phonic exercises, drill in spelling by sound, in 
distinct articulation, and in correct pronunciation. Give 

98 



special emphasis to final letters that endings may not 
be dropped nor words blended. Teach such diacritical 
marks as will enable the child to use the dictionary intelli- 
gently, but do not reduce the drill on diacritical marks 
to formal exercises. When a child finds any word or com- 
bination difficult, give the necessary phonic drill for its 
correct pronunciation. 

Reading by the Pupil.— The training in reading in 
this grade is directed toward two ends more sharply de- 
fined than in the earlier work; the first is the mastery of 
the mechanics of reading, the second the comprehension 
of the content of reading. Oral reading is a complicated 
performance, involving many physical and mental factors. 
The eye must recognize words and reading phrases as 
units and must report these more rapidly than the tongue 
can utter them; there must be a mental consciousness, 
not only of the words now ready for utterance but of those 
that are to follow within the limits of two or more reading 
phrases; these words and word phrases should be associated 
with the ideas they indicate, i. e. the reader should recog- 
nize their meaning; further, the mind should dwell upon 
their significance long enough for an interpretation of 
the mood or intent of the writer as, otherwise, the reading 
will have no value as an interpretation. So far, the physi- 
cal and mental activities are the same for silent and oral 
reading, but now comes the task of utterance. The coor- 
dinating center must rule a multitude of muscles in the 
coordinated activity involved in the utterance of each 
sound. The mind must translate the letter groups or 
phonograms into their representative sound factors which 
the coordinating center of speech must direct the respec- 
tive muscles to produce. Rarely is command so perfect 
that this action is wholly reflex; in clear speech, there 

99 



is almost always some conscious effort which means that 
the mind is active here as in the more psychical steps of 
the process. Expressive utterance, however, involves 
much more than the distinct pronunciation of the words. 
Interpretation necessitates the control of breath, pitch, 
quality of tone, slides, and many devices for the indica- 
tion of earnestness, emotion, etc., all of which may be 
treated as reflex after the habit has been once acquired, 
but all are acquired only by persistent imitation and 
repetition. 

Defective training at any point in this process will re- 
sult in impairment of the result in the oral interpretation 
of the writer's thought. A slowness of utterance which 
renders interpretation impossible may be wholly due to 
the inability of the eye to grasp a reading phrase quickly 
and as a unit. A game which requires quickness of sight 
and a comprehensive glance may be the best remedy. 
Cards containing reading phrases of some length should also 
be used as in the earlier grades. Attention may be so cen- 
tered upon utterance of the words that no association be- 
tween words and meaning takes place; this defect is more 
frequently present than most teachers realize. Drill 
in silent reading of the passage which later may be read 
orally, will aid in oral interpretation, but the child should 
also learn to distribute attention between utterance and the 
association of words and meaning. Exercises in utterance, 
in the overcoming of nervousness, in the acquiring of 
confidence in utterance, will aid him in the partial release 
of attention for other needs. Here, emphasis upon the 
purpose of oral reading, viz., that it may convey thought 
to the listener, is of great value. If the class sits with 
closed books intent to discover whether the reader inter- 
prets correctly, makes the story say what the author meant, 



the reader forgets his vocal organs, leaving their reflex 
action undisturbed, and bends attention to the inter- 
pretation of thought. His efforts will be successful if 
correct habits have been established ; if such is not the case, 
special drill in pronunciation should be given apart from 
the reading exercise. 

The amount of text read should increase greatly this 
year. A division of this content into literature and read- 
ing for information should begin here. About one-half 
of the text for oral reading should be literature of the best, 
and more than half of this, in quantity, should be choice 
prose, for the most part in story form, and this should in- 
clude a considerable amount in dialogue. Almost all of 
the poetry read should be included in the oral reading and 
most of this should be suitable for memorizing. The 
text for information should be read for the gathering of 
thought, should be read rapidly after silent reading, to 
impart information, read but once and then the ques- 
tions arising should be discussed, with rereading only to 
settle disputed points. If, in reading, a pupil hesitates over 
a word, he should be told and the reading should proceed 
without further interruption. It is not necessary that the 
meaning of every word should be made plain, the child 
should learn to gather the meaning from the context, 
and subsequently should give an intelligent statement of 
the matter. These topical restatements should be consid- 
ered a part of the discipline in oral composition and treated 
accordingly when such treatment does not divert the at- 
tention from the thought-getting which is the primary 
purpose of the exercise. 

For silent reading, the most of the texts selected should 
have value as information and be closely correlated with 
other parts of the school course. If travel and exploration be 

IOI 



made the dominant thought unit of the year, much of this 
reading should contribute in some degree to this subject. 
Much of the silent class reading should be sight reading 
with a statement of the substance given in the language 
of the child. For seat and home reading, longer narratives 
or description can be given, — Brown's " In the Days of 
the Giants " and Cook's " Story of Ulysses " are excellent, — 
and reports upon the content of these books or articles 
should form a part of the exercise in oral composition, 
with occasional accounts of some brief but interesting in- 
cident in writing. This exercise should appeal to the chil- 
dren as a recognition of their industry in reading and should 
lead them to take children's books from the grade library 
for home reading. By this means, the quick child may 
acquire the broader education which is his due without 
the promotion which often plunges him into studies too 
mature for his years. 

Reading by the Teacher. — As the child's horizon 
broadens, the range of reading by the teacher should be- 
come greater. The training of the child's taste in poetry 
depends largely upon the teacher's choice and rendering 
of poems. These may appeal to the children because 
of their rhythms, because of their dramatic quality, for 
the sympathy they arouse through the stirring of imagi- 
nation, or for many other reasons. The favorite poems 
may be repeated many times and those that are not too 
long may be memorized. Many stories of primitive peoples 
should be told or read, stories of children of many lands, 
stories of great men which will afterwards fill their place 
among the historical anecdotes of the later grades. 

Oral Composition. — Continue the reproduction of 
stories and descriptions as in the earlier years. Lead the 
children to arrange their ideas in a logical order by compar- 



102 



ing different attempts, with commendation of the best. 
All criticism in oral composition should wait till the effort 
is closed except the utterance without comment of the 
correct word when the incorrect has been given. So far 
as possible, all criticism should be constructive, no criti- 
cism so pointed or severe that the pupil will be self- 
conscious or embarrassed when next he attempts narration. 
Seek through the use of related pictures, and, afterwards, 
by the use of a very simple outline, to develop a logical 
sequence in the narrative, but do not trammel the child 
through the use of an inflexible outline. Seek freshness 
in the narration by reading the incident in the absence 
of two or three children and then asking one or more to tell 
them the story when these return. Give the children every 
opportunity to talk of the things which interest them. 
It matters little what, if the child is really interested and 
desirous of interesting his mates. The desire to talk which 
the unembarrassed child so clearly manifests is nature's 
sign that the time is opportune for the cultivation of speech ; 
this eagerness, however, when the matter is abundant 
often leads the child to speak without orderly plan for his 
thought; do not check the impulse but, by failure to under- 
stand, induce him to present his thought in a more orderly 
manner. 

Seek to expand expression in range and accuracy, in 
full statement, in order of words for rhythm and depend- 
ence, in sequence of ideas, introduction, and conclusion. 
Give attention to sentence transition, then to sequence of 
ideas, and finally to adequacy of statement, by calling 
attention to attempts in which one excelled others in the 
concrete accomplishment. Encourage the pupils to use 
the words they know but have not been accustomed to use, 
and to increase their stock of words. 

103 



Written Composition. — Continue the work of the 
preceding year but expand it continually. Through 
copying or dictation, habituate the pupils to the writing 
of longer and slightly more involved sentences. Discuss 
a picture and permit the children to make up a story which 
should first be given orally and afterwards written. Teach 
the use of capitals in writing dates, the first word of a direct 
quotation, the initials of a person's name, etc.; also such 
uses of punctuation as are called for in their own writing. 
Do not give formal rules but lead the children to detect 
the use through the examination of text that they have 
copied. 

Spelling. — Strive to segregate for each pupil the words 
that are difficult for him. Emphasis should not be laid 
so much upon the spelling of new and unusual words 
as upon the accurate spelling of the words of daily use in 
writing. Since the visual copy is often corrected by the 
sequence of spoken letters when oral spelling is habitual, 
it is well to lay considerable emphasis upon oral spelling, 
but the eye should also be taught to detect the flaw in the 
form of the incorrectly spelled word. If the words mis- 
spelled by each pupil can be collected and placed, correctly 
spelled, under his name on the board, and if henceforth 
a special responsibility rest upon him for those words, the 
misspelling of common words will disappear rapidly. 

Memory Selections, and Dramatization. — As in 
the earlier grades, the memory selections should cultivate 
taste, aesthetic responsiveness to that which is inherently 
fine in form and rhythm although the child can give no 
reason for his liking. The content of the poems should 
lead to emotional appreciation of much that heretofore 
has been a closed book to him, should reveal to him some- 
thing of the significance of natural phenomena and of the 

104 



meaning of life conditions. This understanding of life 
and nature should be further strengthened by dramatization 
of situations and actions with attempts to present their 
significance as interpreted by the child. No discussion 
of dramatization beyond that given for the second grade 
seems necessary for this grade. 

Motor Work. — Grade Three 

Paper Work. — The exercises for this grade should be 
based on Exercises 40 to 91 in Worst's " Constructive 
Work," on " Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades " by E. A. 
Rich, or on some similar handbook. Advance should be 
made in this year's work (1) in muscular ability in handi- 
work, (2) in arithmetical operations involving the smaller 
fractions of an inch, i. e. the quarter and the eighth, (3) in 
knowledge of the varieties of geometrical form and the 
principles involved in their construction. 

The arithmetical operations do not extend the number 
space already given but afford abundant opportunity for 
the application of fundamental processes to problems in 
which special emphasis is placed upon the work with frac- 
tions. Addition advances from such problems as the sum 
of one-half plus six to those where two and a half must be 
added to three and a half; subtraction gradually increases 
in difficulty until simple mixed numbers are subtracted 
from whole numbers; multiplication also may involve the 
product of an integer by a small mixed number; division 
may include the division of an even number by a unit 
fraction. 

In the third grade, the pupils should learn to use machine 
graduated rulers having the inch divided into halves and 
quarters, and, late in the year, these should be displaced 

105 



by others graduated to eighths. The children should also 
acquire considerable facility in the use of compasses and 
should become able to perform many of the simplest 
problems of mechanical drawing, such as bisecting a line 
or arc, inscribing a circle in a square, a hexagon in a circle, 
etc. At each step of this advance, the proper geometrical 
or technical term should be used that the children may be- 
come familiar with the terms through use, not definition. 
Such terms as equilateral, inscribed, concentric, hexagon, 
should become a part of the vocabulary of use and be applied 
intelligently and accurately. 

All the paper work should be based on accurate drawing ; 
therefore, the drawing will advance from the construction 
of rectangles, triangles, and circles to combinations of the 
three figures, to the construction of concentric circles, 
and to the more complicated forms involving all the ele- 
ments studied. In this grade, all drawing should be done 
with the full line, instruction in the different kinds of line 
used in mechanical drawing being reserved for the work 
of the fourth grade. 

In the guidance of the work in the first and second grades, 
emphasis was laid upon exhibition work by the teacher that 
the pupil might learn through imitation; in the third grade, 
the pupils should slowly be led to self dependence in the 
interpretation of printed directions or drawings. Some of 
the exercises should be outlined upon the board before the 
work period and the pupils should learn to interpret these 
through the accompanying written directions. Again, 
the teacher may prepare a finished model which the children 
duplicate without instructions. Later in the year, a working 
drawing may be placed upon the board and the children be 
required to make their own drawing and then to produce the 
finished article from the dimensions given upon the board. 

1 06 



No order of exercises as given in a handbook should be 
followed exactly, but the order of difficulty as nearly as 
the teacher can determine this. Children will differ greatly 
in facility in mathematical computation, in ability to draw, 
and in manual dexterity. The spontaneous interest of the 
pupils and the advantages of correlation should also be 
regarded, and the individual choice and inventiveness 
should be fostered; hence, often, the tasks will be different 
for different members of the class although regard must be 
had to class work wherever illustration or instruction by 
the teacher is necessary. 

Weaving. — The plaiting of strips of paper and the 
braiding of cords in the second grade is a fit introduction 
to basketry and weaving in the third grade. Raffia is 
the most convenient for the earlier lessons in basketry; 
this can be obtained from the dealers in art materials or 
from seedsmen who keep it in stock for the greenhouse trade. 
The teacher can find sufficient guidance and suggestion to 
enable her to undertake elementary work in basketry in 
" How to Make Baskets " by Mary White and in " Prac- 
tical and Artistic Basketry " by Laura R. Tinsley. The 
suggestions concerning dyeing for effective color effects 
are valuable and enable the teacher to correlate the work 
with the study of harmony and design. 

Weaving on the hand loom should begin early in the year, 
may, indeed, begin in the preceding year with the cardboard 
loom. During the early part of the year, a loom should be 
used that is formed from a piece of cardboard to which 
the strands of the woof are fastened by sewing or by running 
them through perforations in the board; later in the year, 
adjustable looms can be supplied from the woodwork 
of pupils in higher grades. Care should be taken that chil- 
dren shall not attempt to string looms too difficult for the 

107 



strength of their wrists. The needle that carries the cord 
from side to side should be a thin and slender strip of wood 
with an eye at one end to carry the cord ; this can be made 
by the wood-workers of a higher grade. 

The cloth made can be used for many purposes, mats 
for lamps, carpets for the doll's house, etc. When the chil- 
dren have become fairly familiar with the manipulation 
of the loom, they should be encouraged to weave in color 
designs which they have worked out in the drawing and 
color class. At first, these designs should consist of alterna- 
tions of colored strips which produce a harmonious effect; 
later, geometrical forms may be introduced, leading in later 
grades to conventionalized design for ornamentation. 
In these respects, the weaving should correlate with draw- 
ing, color, tile decoration, etc. Among the handbooks 
helpful to the teacher, Worst's " Constructive Work " 
and " Varied Occupations in Weaving " by Louisa Walker 
may be mentioned. 

Sewing. — Sewing may be introduced in this grade 
but the needles used should be coarse to medium and the 
stitches taught should be large. Aprons of simple design, 
caps, and other articles of common use can be sewed, also 
exercises may be given in the simplest kinds of stitch, but 
no work in sewing is likely to appeal to the child as strongly 
as other forms of motor work, and it is questionable whether 
skill is advanced more rapidly by introducing the work 
here or by postponing it until the next grade and seeking 
here to advance manual facility by other tasks. Some of 
the best schools do introduce sewing even in the first 
grade but many wait until the fourth. A comparative 
study for method, content, and result should be made in 
many different schools to determine what is best. 

Clay Work. — A decided advance in clay work is de- 

108 



sirable in the third grade, the work developing as (a) tile- 
making and (b) pottery. In the second grade the children 
acquired familiarity with the method of handling clay and 
some skill in the modeling of objects; now, they can enter 
upon tasks that will develop the muscular sense and the 
appreciation of beauty in design. 

The equipment for clay work need not be expensive. 
Well planed boards, twelve by fourteen inches, are very 
useful for flat work ; school slates or flat roofing slates will 
serve the same purpose. A piece of oilcloth can be used to 
protect the desk and may afterwards be wrapped around 
the unfinished work to keep it in good condition until the 
next lesson hour. A few wooden tools which the wood- 
working class can make will be necessary, but the most 
useful tool is the thumb. In the earlier stages of construc- 
tion, the thumb and fingers will give the general form, 
the tool being needed only in the finishing of the modeled 
object. 

Prepared clay can be obtained readily from potteries 
or from pottery supply houses at a low rate. Local clays 
can be used and when too porous or too plastic can be im- 
proved by the addition of a little sand. A large plaster- 
lined or zinc-lined box is a necessity for keeping the clay 
in proper condition for working. See the syllabus for the 
second grade for the method of preparation for local clays. 

Tile Work. — A clay tile offers an excellent opportunity 
for developing some simple and original problems in design 
and for cultivating an appreciation of the technique of 
work in clay. In constructing tiles, the pupil should begin 
with the square tile, pass, then, to the oblong, the circular, 
the hexagon, in order. There are two methods of forming 
the plain clay block upon which the design is placed. 
The pupil may roll out upon his board a sheet of clay of 

109 



the desired thickness and then trim it to the desired shape. 
The rolling of the clay should be done with a rolling-pin 
for which a piece of broom-stick will serve. If pieces of 
wood of the desired thickness are placed on either side of 
the clay the clay-sheet can easily be rolled to the desired 
thickness. In following the second method, or method 
by construction, the pupil forms the outside edge of the 
tile with coils of clay about one-half inch in diameter, 
placing them upon a modeling board or slate. The inside 
space is then filled in with small bits of clay well worked 
together. The lasting quality of the tile will depend upon 
the compactness obtained in pressing these bits together; 
tiles of loosely pressed bits will fall apart in drying. After 
the tile has been filled in and is of the desired thickness, 
from three-eighths to half an inch, it should be smoothed 
well, turned over and any loosely filled places filled in and 
the surface carefully smoothed; the tile is now ready for 
the design. 

The paper bearing the design should be placed face 
down upon the tile, care being taken to get the placing 
exact. The design is transferred to the clay by a slow and 
careful rubbing upon the paper. The paper should now be 
removed and, with the pencil-end of the modeling tool, a line 
one-eighth of an inch deep should be made through the middle 
of the lines of the design. The edges of these grooves should 
be rounded so that the glaze may spread more evenly in 
firing. In grooving the tile, care must be taken to keep 
the depth of line and the width uniform. After the grooving 
has been done, the lines of the design and the tile, in general, 
may be smoothed with thumb and forefinger. 

The design for each tile should be worked out by the pupil 
upon paper with a very soft pencil so that the lines may 
transfer to the clay easily. In selecting designs, the order 



of difficulty already discussed under paper work should 
be observed. At first, combinations of geometrical figures 
should be used, later, designs of natural objects, flowers, 
leaves, roots, and animals may follow. 

Pottery. — For pottery work, a number of plaster bats 
are necessary. To make these, secure a variety of sizes 
of baking tins, two and a half inches, three and a half 
inches, in diameter, and some large sized pie pans; dissolve 
soap in water, making it a little thicker than cream; brush 
this mixture quite generously over the inside of the pans 
before filling them with the plaster. To mix the plaster, 
provide a large bucket half-filled with water; sift the plaster 
slowly through the fingers over the water, stirring slowly 
until the plaster begins to appear upon the surface when 
the mixture should be stirred thoroughly. After a moment, 
fill the pans to a level surface and leave the plaster to harden. 
In ten or twelve hours, the plaster will be hard enough to 
be taken from the pans by turning them over and tapping 
the edges upon the table top. These plaster bats will be 
more serviceable than modeling boards for they can easily 
be turned in any direction without moving the clay from 
its position. 

The pupil should now make a drawing of the simple 
bowl that he wishes to model. This drawing should lie be- 
fore him in his modeling of the clay and serve as the stand- 
ard copy for his work. Examples of Indian bowls and of 
modern pottery which are in good design and form will 
prove helpful in revealing the varieties of curve in contour 
which add interest to form. 

In beginning work, the plaster bat should, first, be placed 
in water to absorb what it will to prevent the drying of 
the clay during construction. The clay supply should be 
kept covered with a moist cloth. Begin with a small 



open bowl with, perhaps, a two-inch base. The teacher 
should show how the base is made and how the coils 
are fastened to this base to build up the bowl. Roll the 
coils with the fingers of both hands but not the palms. 
The coils should be half an inch in thickness or more, ac- 
cording to the size of the bowl. If the coils are too heavy, 
the bowl looks cumbersome and crude; if too thin, the 
walls sag and break. At first, the bowl should be built 
up with one coil at a time, coiled upon the base; later, 
several coils may be attached successively to the base and 
built up spirally. In smoothing and pressing the coils 
together, one hand should be kept in the inside while the 
other fashions the outside. 

If the walls seem too thick, some of the clay may be 
removed with a wire tool and any unevenness upon the sur- 
face may be remedied by the same instrument. Lastly, 
the top should be leveled and the entire surface smoothed 
with the tips of the fingers moistened upon a damp cloth. 
After the bowl has hardened, the bottom should be finished, 
all superfluous clay being removed with the wire tool. 

Only the more simple forms of decoration are possible 
for children of this grade. The incised line is the simplest 
and most natural form of decoration. Each design should 
be planned definitely before any attempt is made to apply 
it to the bowl. The edges of the incised design should be 
rounded to cause the glaze to flow evenly upon firing. 
The design may also be painted with water colors or with 
natural clays or ochres. For suggestions concerning 
clay work, the teacher will find much of aid in "Clay 
Work " by Katherine Morris Lester. 



112 



Mathematics. — Grade Three 

The aims of the teaching of mathematics in Grade 
Three are four: (i) to give mental discipline through 
the stating of problems from data gathered from school 
activities, (2) to extend knowledge of fundamental arith- 
metical operations, (3) to increase accuracy in the use of 
the fundamental operations through the written or oral 
solution of problems, (4) to enlarge the conception of geo- 
metrical form and to enable the pupils to apply this to 
the motor activities of their daily tasks. 

The content of the number work in this grade in- 
cludes: 

Counting. — Continued to groups of twelves as a basis 
for multiplication. 

Addition. — Written addition with numbers of four orders, 
including dollars and cents, carrying involved. 

Subtraction. — Begin in making change in the school 
store and continue in written form to numbers of three 
or four orders. 

Multiplication. — Tables completed, written multipli- 
cation of numbers of three orders by numbers of one or 
two orders. 

^ Division. — Oral work suggested by the work in mul- 
tiplication ; this should include telling how many times three 
goes in every number without remainder up to thirty, 
four up to forty, etc., to nine up to ninety. Written division 
should include short division by all digits below ten; 
in the second term, long division should be introduced 
with easy divisors of two orders, i. e., with divisors that 
involve little carrying in the multiplications, such as 31, 
41, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91. 

"3 



Fractions. — Halves, fourths, eighths, thirds, fifths, sixths, 
oral and written reduction, addition and subtraction of 
fractions. 

Measures. — Continual review of those already taught, 
introduction of linear yard, square and cubic inch, square 
foot, pound, ounce, dozen, pint, quart, gallon, etc. 

Notation and Numeration. — Reading and writing of 
numbers of seven orders. 

Terms. — Sum, minuend, subtrahend, remainder, mul- 
tiplicand, multiplier, product, dividend, divisor, quotient, 
factor, prime factor, numerator, denominator, but these 
should be learned through familiar use rather than by 
definition. 

The phrasing and solution of problems is a valuable ex- 
ercise; through it the children are led to see the similarity 
of data in different problems and the application of arith- 
metical operations to similar problems in the various 
occupations. The statement of the problem leads also to 
clear thinking in regard to the proposition in hand. The 
data should be drawn from the child's own activities or 
from his study of the commerce and industry of his neigh- 
borhood, and the task should always lie within the range 
of his present understanding that the exercise may have 
significance to him. 

Oral drill, competitive and otherwise, should form an 
important part of mathematical work in the third grade; 
this should include rapid drill in addition and multiplica- 
tion with emphasis upon correct results at the first attempt. 
Cards may be made carrying a number of problems for 
which the child makes a list of answers within a specified 
time; the cards are, then, interchanged and others strive 
to discover mistakes in the results. Easy problems may be 

114 



placed upon the board and answers written by each and 
exchanged with discounts in the tally for errors. Rapidity 
and accuracy are the goals in these exercises. 

The school store is a valuable auxiliary. The goods may 
be objects or represented by cardboard appropriately 
labeled. One is appointed storekeeper, and one makes a 
purchase, all the rest make change silently to check up the 
storekeeper, the first one who detects an error takes the 
place of the storekeeper. A time-keeper calls time if a 
computation is delayed beyond the time agreed upon. 
Each pupil rises as he completes his computation so that the 
teacher knows upon whom to call for verification of the 
computation. Generous time must be allowed at first 
for the completion of the transaction, the cost of five dozen 
pencils at twelve cents a dozen takes time for calculation 
and the storekeeper will need additional time to make 
change for a dollar bill. The currency of the business 
school may be used here to advantage. 

The advance in knowledge of geometrical form has already 
been discussed under the treatment of paper work for this 
grade. The range of correlation is considerably greater 
in this than in preceding grades. Data for the application 
of number will be found in nature study, home geography, 
clay-modeling, pottery making, weaving, and basketry. 

Nature Study. — Grade Three 

Nature study in the third grade should enlarge the 
children's knowledge of cyclic changes in nature and should 
increase their acquaintance with the physical phenomena 
upon which the study of geography rests. In many respects, 
the material and method for the third grade are similar 
to those for the second, therefore, the discussion given for 
that grade in this syllabus will aid the teacher here in the 

"5 



selection, organization, and presentation of the material for 
the course. 

The Content of Study. — (i) The study of plants 
as wholes and the cyclic development of seeds, plant, 
flower, and fruit. (2) The study of animals including 
one or more from (a) bird, (b) mammal, (c) insect world. 
These should be studied as wholes, as parts, and in cyclic 
development; the bird as egg, young, adult; the insect 
as egg, larva, worm, chrysalis, and imago. (3) The study 
of water as a solvent and as a transporting agent, etc. 
(4) The study of meteorological conditions. (5) The study 
of the soil and of soil formation. 

Plant Study. — The study of plants as wholes should 
be conducted as in the preceding year. The goldenrod 
is an excellent subject for fall study and the violet for study 
in the spring. The study of seeds, buds, and fruits should 
be similar to that given in the second grade. 

Roots. — Make a comparative study of roots to show 
their relation to the plant as a means of support and as 
organs which absorb nourishment for the plant. Use 
a magnifying glass to show root hairs and capillary tubes. 
Study the carrot or beet as a type of root which stores 
nourishment for subsequent growth. Distinguish roots 
from underground stems. Correlate with the other forms 
of school work. 

Leaves* — Show that leaves are organs which give off 
moisture to the air through the pores that they contain. 
This may be shown experimentally by placing an inverted 
fruit-jar over a plant after the soil has been covered by 
oiled paper to prevent evaporation. Lead the pupils 
to examine the leaves with a magnifying glass to detect 
the breathing pores. Follow other suggestions given for 
the second grade. 

116 



Stems. — Study the structure of various stems, show the 
small passages which make it possible for the liquids to 
pass upward to the leaves where they give off their mois- 
ture to the air. Emphasize the importance of the stem 
to the plant and its use for man and the lower animals. 

Animal Study. — The method of work of the preceding 
year should be continued. Birds, mammals, and insects 
should be studied with emphasis upon the stages of life 
through which the animal passes. The cyclic changes 
from the hatching of the frog's eggs to the development 
of the frog offer an excellent subject for the spring months. 
The ribbons of eggs should be collected from some pond 
and placed in a fresh-water aquarium where the daily 
changes can be noted. Drawings should be made of the 
eggs and of the tadpoles, experiments should reveal the 
kinds of food upon which the tadpoles and young frogs 
live, and deductions be made concerning their service to 
man. 

Some study of the earthworm is possible for this year, 
through examination of the earth after a spring rain. 
A box of earth may be prepared and their action observed 
more continuously. Emphasis should be laid upon the work 
of the earthworm in pulverizing the soil and bringing it 
to the surface. 

The squirrel is a convenient subject for winter study if 
a tame one is obtainable. Intelligence, habits, parts and 
their purpose, serviceability and destructiveness are topics 
for consideration. 

Meteorological Conditions. — This subject should 
include the cyclic changes of water and their relation to 
cold and heat. The formation and condensation of water 
vapor and the precipitation of rain should be studied with 
practical experiments in the evaporation of water and the 

117 



condensation of steam. The relation of winds and ranges 
of hills and of elevation upon rainfall should be explained. 
The effect of running water upon the land surface and the 
carrying capacity of water should be considered. The 
pupils should keep a weather chart, recording the date, 
temperature, condition of atmosphere as clear, cloudy, 
rainy, windy, etc. 

Soil Formation. — The children should collect samples 
of the various kinds of soil and earth deposit ; — fruit 
jars are convenient for this purpose. Simple experiments 
will show the difference of porosity for different soils, 
and the difference in fertility will be made evident by plant- 
ing the same kinds of seed in the different jars. All ex- 
periments should be very simple and the study comparative. 
The habit of observing and comparing is the result of train- 
ing and one of the most important fruits of education. 

The building up of soil through the wearing and carry- 
ing power of water, through the action of freezing upon 
porous rocks, and through chemical action should be made 
clear through simple experiments. The slaking of lime 
and soft coal, the action of dilute acid on limestone, are 
illustrations that children of this grade can understand. 
Statements in the textbook of elementary geography 
and in the reading given in connection with the study of 
geography will be discussed afterwards with intelligence. 

Garden Work. — The gardening of this year is in the 
main a continuation of that of the preceding year and the 
objects sought through that should also guide the teacher 
in this, but greater emphasis should be laid upon those 
thoughts and services for plant life which will strengthen 
the regard for the mysteries of life and the recognition 
of one's cooperation with unseen forces in the furtherance 
of life processes. The tasks should also call for better 

118 



coordinated muscular activity than in the preceding year, 
but too great results must not be expected and the work 
must be kept on the plane of the child's development and 
unforced mental activity. 

Propagation of plants by slips should be an important 
part of the year's work. The geranium and the carnation 
are suitable for use. Preliminary work may be done indoors 
in potting and caring for plants. Teach the importance of 
proper soil, the need of drainage, the methods of starting 
slips and of potting, how to remove plantlets by tapping 
the edge of the inverted pot on a box, and transplanting 
to the garden-plot, with the use of the watering-pot in 
packing the soil about the roots. 

From seed catalogs or elsewhere, the children should 
determine the distance apart at which plants should be set 
and then should compute the number of plants necessary 
for a given border, correlating their garden work with 
their study of number. The use of plants for the decora- 
tion of the school-yard may now be considered. Slips of 
woodbine and other climbing plants may be planted around 
the walls and along the yard fence. Moist places can re- 
ceive cuttings of willow or poplar, which in time will form 
a bit of shrubbery. These matters should be decided by 
the vote of the class after discussion, that all may learn to 
work in cooperation. Common plots may also be under- 
taken for nursery purposes and plans for joint labor agreed 
upon. In the individual plots, each child should have wide 
latitude of choice, planting for beauty, for economic use, 
or for other purposes that appeal to him. Make corre- 
lation a distinctive phase of this work, and through it in- 
troduce the study of the agricultural and commercial 
industries of the community. 



n 9 



Art Study. — Grade Three 

The training in art in the third grade divides into color 
work and drawing. Color is taught (a) with reference 
to decoration in motor work and (b) for knowledge of colors, 
hues, and tints and of their harmonious combinations. 
Drawing is taught as (a) mechanical drawing in connection 
with the paper work and as (b) free-hand in connection 
with nature study and for representative purposes in 
connection with the written composition. 

In material and method, the study of art in this grade 
is to a degree a repetition of that of the earlier grade. 
The subjects suitable for practice are flowers, fruits, vege- 
tables, animals, figures, and landscapes, and any of these 
may be used in either representation or design. In all the 
work there should be continual advance with emphasis 
upon technique of art in the study of simple decoration and 
in its application to motor work, and upon good spacing, 
arrangement, and the choice of harmonious colors in the 
elements of the design which the pupil is working out. 
In illustration, the choice of an effective moment, of fig- 
ures, and their effective and harmonious grouping should 
receive attention. When these have been selected by 
the pupils, the figures may be placed upon the board by the 
teacher and several arrangements shown and erased, the 
children afterwards choosing their own plan of grouping. 
Studies of arrangement can also be made by the use of 
figures in paper applique. For festival cards, block prints 
may be used, the children filling in the outline. 

In the study of color, the color-disks may be used or 
the color- top with adjustable disks. Water colors should 
be the medium of expression though colored crayon and 
charcoal are serviceable. Teach the children to make 



flat and graded washes of the standard colors and of their 
hues and tints. These washes may be applied to simple 
landscapes, or may be used to color paper for Christmas 
and Easter cards, book-covers, etc. 

In the study of landscapes, the children should use a 
simple finder to aid in obtaining a well-balanced grouping 
or massing of the elements which enter into the picture. 
The finder can be made by placing two L-shaped pieces 
of cardboard so that the legs enclose a rectangle which 
can be so shifted as to show the best method of arranging 
the objects represented. 

In free-hand work, paint and draw from nature. Weeds, 
flowers, leaves on trees, twigs, vines, and animals can be 
used as models, both singly and in groups. In drawing 
from nature, select large, vigorous specimens and require 
careful study of the characteristics of the subject before 
an attempt is made to draw or paint it. Study pose and 
action by drawing members of the class, using a flat wash 
of gray, insist upon representation in mass instead of out- 
line drawing. Encourage attempts to show the relation 
of light and shade but not to represent the third dimension. 

For suggestions regarding the selection and arrangement 
of material, the care of water colors and brushes, methods 
of conducting lessons without loss of time or confusion, 
see the syllabus for the preceding grade. 

If sewing is taught, ornamentation by cross-stitch em- 
broidery can be studied; such ornamentation should 
follow designs worked out on cross- section paper. 

In the designing of borders, the pupil should devise 
his border from a selected unit, should work it out in light 
and dark, then select his colors with due regard to harmony 
of color and tone. 

All work in art should be correlated with work in the 



various branches of study, — paper work, weaving, basketry, 
clay-modeling, pottery, etc. 

Geography. — Grade Three 

The year's work should begin with a review of what the 
children learned the preceding year concerning the various 
bodies of land and water, through the use of the sand-box and 
pictures and out-of-door lessons. The terms cape, pen- 
insula, island, plain, valley, mountain-range, river, lake, 
outlet, inlet, gulf, bay, ocean-bed, etc., should be recalled 
and used familiarly. 

Home geography may begin with the mapping of the 
neighborhood in sand, homes, groups of houses, streets, 
surface of land, drainage, groves, etc. These may also 
be drawn as a map from which the pupils may be taught 
to interpret maps and from this be led to a comparative 
study of the maps in books. 

Starting from the school garden, a study may then be 
made of agricultural products from gardens and farms and 
of the comparative size of each holding, the crops raised, 
the times and methods of planting, harvesting, and disposing 
of crops, with some very elementary discussion of stock- 
raising, orcharding, and of wood products. 

After due preparation, attention should center on the 
exchange of products and their conversion through manu- 
facture. The manufacturing industries of the neighbor- 
hood should have special study, in particular those that 
convert the raw material of the section into finished 
products. It is not important that leading manufactories 
or typical ones should be chosen, but that the children 
should learn how the material with which they are 
familiar is converted into more useful and beautiful form. 
Visits to manufacturing establishments should be planned 

122 



where such are possible without exposure to dangerous 
machinery. In all cases, such excursions should be made 
only with consent of parents and of the officials of the 
factory. Before the excursion is made, the teacher should 
familiarize herself with the processes involved and select 
those that will need explanation and emphasis. The 
children should also be told the reason for their visit that 
their observations may be made with more definiteness. 

The study of the materials used in the factory, which 
usually include some brought from a distance, will raise 
questions of transportation and mutual dependence in 
exchange. The transportation of materials, whether these 
are local or brought from a distance, and the expense of 
manufacture at this point will lead to discussion of the 
causes for the location of the plant. 

The study of exchange leads to the more general study 
of transportation. The value of good roads to the farmer, 
the desirability of railroads to the merchant, should be 
recognized. Home products should be traced to the centers 
of trade and products from other sections or lands followed 
to their places of origin. Timetables of railroads and steam- 
ship lines should be collected by the pupils and the maps 
of geographies and books of exploration and travel should 
be examined for the location of sources of foreign products 
and the destination of home products. 

The commercial aspect of the study of geography should 
lead to an examination of the stores of the vicinity. The 
purchase of products for shipment and the bringing in of 
products for the local demand should be recognized and dis- 
cussed. The convenience of currency instead of barter 
and the use and value of money should now become clear. 
Price-lists should be collected, and the increase of price 
through the increment of gain exacted by each through 

123 



whose hands the article passes should become clear, also 
the enhancement of value through manufacture. 

The study of any settlement, large or small, will lead to 
some discussion of social and governmental regulations 
for the protection of property and the regulation of conduct 
in a community. As the children recognize the relation 
of pupil to teacher and school so they can understand the 
need of local officials and of community laws or regulations. 
No attempt should be made to impart any connected view 
of civic organization, simply a preparation made for the 
elementary study of civics and government in later years. 

The study of industry, of transportation, and of geo- 
graphical locations and conditions can be made more 
effective by the use of stories of inventors, explorers, etc., 
which will introduce the biographical and historical in- 
cidents by which the study of history should begin in the 
next year. 

The study of geography should correlate closely with the 
other work of this year, thus, drawing and the mapping 
of the village, sand work and the study of the relief or sur- 
face of the neighborhood, arithmetic and the problems 
of transportation, such as the passenger charges between 
known stations, the freight charges to centers of traffic, 
and the problems of exchange as shown by differences in 
buying and selling prices. Weights and measures should be 
studied in their relation to the exchange of goods. Eng- 
lish is in constant use for oral expression and in written 
records which should pass under the eye of the teacher. 

A large map should form part of the equipment of the 
room and upon this the more important trade routes should 
be clearly shown. Late in the year, a globe should be added, 
and from this the pupils should learn the shape of the earth 
and the distribution of land and water. No attention 



124 



should be given to latitude and longitude, but the equator 
should be located for convenience in establishing directions 
north and south upon the map. 

Music. — Grade Three 
The study of music in the third grade begins with a re- 
view of the old songs and the recalling of all that has been 
learned concerning tone quality, enunciation, and good 
rendering. Then, other songs should be introduced which 
require greater concentration and individual effort, such as: 
De Koven's " Wynken, Blynken and Nod," which affords 
change in key and a rocking, rhythmic motion; Miss 
Knowlton's " Crow," with its summer associations; Gay- 
nor's "The Leaves," "Party," "The Squirrel," and 
" Honey Bee," with their fall associations; " After Thanks- 
giving " and " This Tree Was Grown," from the Modern 
Music Primer; " The First Noel," from Folk Songs for 
Children; " O Little Town of Bethlehem," from the Church 
Hymnal; Elliott's "The North Wind Doth Blow"; 
Gaynor's "Sleighing Song" and "Tracks in the Snow "j 
|| The Snowbird's Message," "The Little Trolls," and 
"The Woodpecker," from the Modern Music Primer; 
Knowlton's "Rollicking Robin"; Gaynor's "The Flag 
Song," the national hymn, and such occupation songs as 
" The Workshop." 

After the song work is well established, intensive study 
in observation and analysis should be resumed. First, the 
acting, picturing, and rhythm notation; then, the singing to 
the blackboard with a mark on line or space for doh. The 
teacher dictates with the pointer different rates of speed, 
changes in the duration of notes, repetition of notes, changes 
in direction on scale, skips of thirds and fourths, and com- 
bination exercises. Second, practice on whole step and half 

I2 5 



step above and below a given tone. The discovery is made 
that in different songs the same line or space may repre- 
sent a whole step or a half step. Third, the G clef with 
F sharp to represent ti and F for fah, then the B flat. The 
pupils can now write their songs in three different places 
on the staff. With the three pitches, the key signature 
is developed. 

In the rhythmic work, two duration values are studied — 
the long and the short — in one pulse and two pulses for 
two notes. This is acted and pictured, then represented 
by a dot after a quarter and an eighth note. 

Creative work should be continued in this grade. Sub- 
jects for songs should be discussed, then songs should be 
made by the children and the notation worked out in class. 
Nothing should be said about major or minor keys, each 
child following his own feeling. Subjects that express some 
motion or activity, or that present a mood or a definite 
state of feeling such as pleasure or regret lend themselves 
most readily to musical settings; for instance, subjects 
having to do with wind or water, with occupations such 
as that of the milkmaid or the blacksmith, or subjects 
that express states of feeling such as weariness, longing, 
cold. For the expression of feeling, the color quality of 
major and minor chords is instinctively chosen that the 
music may say the same things that the words say. 

Greater emphasis should be laid upon individual ren- 
dering than in the preceding year. The class should also be 
treated as a chorus and sing at times before the whole 
school. The pupils should also be trained to listen to 
individual and chorus singing critically for friendly 
criticism. The teacher will find much that is suggestive 
in the methods employed in the Horace Mann School, 
" Teachers' College Record," Vol. VII. 

126 



Physical Exercise. — Grade Three 

Physical training in the third grade has for its objects: 
(i) stimulation of the growth of the body in general and de- 
velopment of the vital organs, (2) development of strength, 
agility, and graceful movement and carriage, (3) removal 
of bodily defects or conditions induced by school life, 
(4) increased vitality so that the body may better resist 
disease, (5) training of mental powers necessary for the 
growth of will power, obedience, submission to rules, 
perseverance, courage, and self-reliance, (6) development 
of control of the muscular system. 

The third grade gymnastics should include: (1) head 
exercises to secure correct poise of the head, chest, 
and neck, (2) arm exercises to secure development of 
chest, shoulder blades, and arms, (3) movements to de- 
velop the lower extremities, (4) trunk exercises including 
lateral bending movements to strengthen the spine, to 
flatten the shoulder blades and strengthen the waist 
muscles, to increase the activity of the liver, and to 
improve the circulation, (5) breathing exercises to ex- 
pand the chest, to develop lung capacity, to improve the 
circulation and establish the normal action of the 
heart. 

Exercises involving marching, throwing, bowling, run- 
ning, and jumping are best suited to the needs of children 
of elementary grades. The lessons should be short, from 
eight to ten minutes, and given in a well-ventilated gym- 
nasium or corridor which is free from dust. All over- 
exertion should be avoided. The mind should be engaged 
but not strained. The exercises should be planned to 
develop promptness in response to command, and ac- 
curacy in the execution of directions. 

127 



The following outline shows the character of the work 
that may be done in this grade: 

Marching. — By twos and fours with commands " twos 
right," " twosleft," " fours right," "foursleft "; indifferent 
positions, on toes, on heels with knees bent. 

Simple Dancing Steps.- — Side step, touch step, step 
and hop, heel and toe, combinations of the foregoing, 
folk dances continued as in preceding grade. 

Response to Command. — Attention, hands on hips, 
feet close, feet sidewise, step in any direction, etc. 

A rm and Leg Movements. — Clapping hands above head 
with heel raising, arm raising sidewise with heel raising, etc. 

Trunk Movements. — Bending in various directions, 
care being taken to avoid strains or over-exertion. 

Jumping. — Standing and running broad and high jumps 
without much regard to form in landing, etc. 

Running. — Running for speed, endurance, with care 
against strain. 

Games. — With beanbags — passing down four lines, 
passing around a circle, throwing back and forth across 
two lines, four lines racing in passing; with basket ball — 
two circles, one child in center tosses to each in turn, 
circle through first wins; throwing back and forth across 
two lines, tossing over a line stretched across the room, etc. ; 
with ordinary ball — throwing at a target, bouncing ball 
from right hand to left and return for accuracy and for 
speed, etc., etc. 



128 



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